A Slytherin way of being
by catchingafallingstar
Summary: At the end of his third year at Hogwarts, while recovering after the final escape of Sirius Black, Harry received an unexpected visit which would not only change his life upside-down, but also affect all the magical world in time. COMPLETED!
1. 01 In bed with a girl

**A/N:** My thanks to TheGreatBubbaJ for beta-reading and correction of this chapter.

 **Chapter 1 - In bed with a girl**

Harry Potter woke up and quickly realized it was still night and he was, once again, in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Soon what had happened returned to him, and he remembered the reason he was once again there in Madame Pomfrey's domains: his godfather, the notorious fugitive Sirius Black, was indeed innocent, and Harry had just aided him in once more escaping from the dementors.

But now was no time to give in to regrets. He could hear footsteps walking toward him and turned to see who would be in the hospital wing at such a late hour. His two best friends certainly were not, since he could see them occupying the next two beds on his side opposite the door.

The approaching figure was small. Was it an elf? No, elves didn't have long hair. A young girl then, maybe a first year. Ginny was bigger than the approaching figure and he could not remember any other girl younger than him. The faint lunar light from the windows and the fact that he wasn't wearing his glasses made it impossible for him to distinguish more than an imprecise silhouette.

Before he could think of any action, the silhouette moved, striking him with a spell. Harry did not notice anything after being hit, until he tried to ask his visitor who she was and found out that he had been silenced. He reached down to the bedside table, picked up his glasses and put them on, acting slowly to avoid scaring his visitor. The girl did not interfere with his action, preferring to put a silencing spell around his bed and get rid of her robe, which she dropped to the floor without the slightest concern.

In fact, it was a younger girl in pyjamas, since Harry could note the absence of characteristic curves that the girls of his year began to display. Said curves led to the boy's continuous embarrassment as he was beginning to be seriously influenced by them without exactly understanding the reason.

"Some space if you would, Potter," she said in a voice he didn't remember hearing before, and to his amazement the girl began to climb onto his bed. Harry hastened to obey.

"Some space, Potter, not all space. Do not be so puritan! I do not have cooties, if that is what you are thinking, nor am I here to molest you sexually, although I might well agree to some experimentation, should the mood strike. I'm starting to get curious about it myself."

Harry was happy with the darkness, since the girl would not see how flushed he was. 'Or am I blushing so much I get to shine in the dark?' he thought worriedly.

"Who are you?" he asked curiously ... and once more he felt himself blushing when he realized that his voice had failed and had come out higher than he wanted.

The girl giggled a little before replying, "For now, just a girl with a proposal. You will only know who I am by accepting said proposal."

"And what would this proposal be?" asked the suspicious boy.

"First I will explain why I chose you," she replied, taking control of the conversation. "You already have considerable fame in the magical world, and I have discovered that you are also a mighty wizard. If I had any doubts about that, the corporeal patronus you used against that abortion of nature who called himself the 'Prince of Slytherin' was more than sufficient proof. You didn't know the spell when you played against Hufflepuff, and so obviously learned to perform it before the game against Ravenclaw. Quite the impressive feat for a wizard of any age, let alone a third year."

"Uh ... well, I had help ..."

"But of course you did. Do not try to minimize your achievement, Potter. While I am a fan of your humility, you will have to learn to measure it. And that's one of the points where I can help you."

"And why would you help me?"

"Because I want you to help me in return, it is obvious, is it not?" said the girl without hesitation.

"Uh ... at least you're sincere," he said.

"I studied you all year, Potter. I know full well that my only chance with you is to be totally honest with my goals."

"And what are your goals?" asked Harry.

"To be the owner of myself, and to be able to live my life as I see fit," she replied.

"What do you mean?" the boy asked, really confused. "Can't you do what you want?"

The girl let out a long sigh before continuing. "I am a pureblood from a traditional family, Potter. Can you not see what life is like for us? We are the property of our parents until they give us in marriage to a new owner, in exchange for certain advantages for the family, that is, for themselves. Look at the pureblood women who have been able to do what they like: they are all single and unattached to their elders. The female teachers here, for example. None of them married, none of them in touch with their father. Either they were orphaned or totally abandoned the family. "

"Wow ... I ... I had not noticed that. But the other teachers, the men I mean, are not married either."

"They married the profession of their own free will, but that was their choice, which women lack."

"But ... so ... you want to marry me, is that it?" asked Harry in astonishment.

To the boy's surprise, the girl laughed, and laughed a lot.

"Oh, Potter, you are a card!" She finally replied. "You still do not know who I am and are already talking about marriage! I am touched, truly. But no, we will not need something so radical, otherwise I would not be so sure that my proposal would interest you. As much as you wanted to help me, it would be too much for me to expect such a serious commitment from you so quickly, even more so at our age."

"So what do you want?" replied the rather indignant boy.

"A betrothal contract would suffice."

"What do you mean by a betrothal contract?"

"A contract that leaves us with the option to get out of it. Understand that such a contract would prevent my father from negotiating me to another. If we put a wedding date for when I am already of age, sometime after finishing Hogwarts, and then we gave up getting married, I would be free. My father will not have any more rights over me!" she explained quickly, realizing how much the boy had been nervous about the idea of marriage.

Harry thought a little about it, weighing the pros and cons. At last he resumed the matter, calmer and more rational.

"First point, I'm still underage. Who would sign this contract for me?"

"Potter, to answer your question I will require some assurance ... Will you really do what you can for me if I commit myself to do everything I can for you?"

"A little too vague, don't you think?" he said. "What exactly do you expect of me, besides a betrothal contract, and what can I expect of you?" he asked, leaning on his elbow, trying to see the girl next to him.

"What I really need from you is the contract. What I would like, if possible, is to be your friend, even if in secret, and some protection if I ever need it. What I can offer is my help for you to realize all the potential that I see in you, Potter. How much this help will do for you will depend on how much you commit to following my recommendations and how much you trust me and allow me to help you. For your safety, I am willing to take a magical oath that I will keep your secrets and will not do anything that could harm you. Although, we will need to carefully consider how to put it into words so that you are satisfied and I am not at risk of losing my magic due to some misunderstanding or forgetfulness ..."

"Your part of this deal still seems a bit too vague. I don't want to be rude, but you're still in the first year, right? What can you know that might be so important to me?"

The girl became visibly agitated and annoyed at Harry's comment, but then calmed down and asked, "Promise that all our talk will be kept just between us?"

Receiving confirmation from the boy she went on to clarify: "No one pays much attention to first year students. With that, I was able to discover many things. You were not the only student I have been studying, though you are the one who I studied the hardest. I know of people who may be great allies to you, and of others who are enemies to you who are far more dangerous than that fool Malfoy. The summer is coming. You are not very pleased about having to go back to your relatives' house, are you?"

"How?" asked the terrified boy. "What do you know about that?"

"You have scars all over your body, Potter, and not all are from Quidditch or your adventures here."

"Hey! How did you figure it out?"

"I mentioned I am starting to be curious about boys, did I not? And the Quidditch locker rooms are not very well protected."

"You ... you ... how could you?"

The girl responded with a naughty giggle before continuing: "I have a lot of resources, Potter, and I can help you immensely. You can help me as well, the question is, will you?"

Harry thought for a long time at the question. The girl's tone had made it clear that there was something important depending on his response.

"This marriage contract ... What if any of us are interested in anyone else ... later, of course ... but ..."

"The contract can be kept secret, Harry, no one needs to know about it. It is only a guarantee that my father will not auction me without my consent. You will be free to satisfy your legion of fans."

"Ha, ha, very funny," he replied, a little hurt by her play. "But who would sign the contract for me? Dumbledore?"

"Never! But you have a magical guardian, Potter, who can not only sign the contract but give you a better place to live than with those mistreating relatives of yours."

"Sirius? How do you know?" he asked worriedly. "Hey, who's your father, James Bond or some KGB spy?"

"Pardon? I haven't the slightest idea who you are talking about. However, I followed you and your friends yesterday, and cannot believe they really give Granger a time-turner. I saw you two almost interfering with your previous' selves. That's a danger, Potter!"

"You followed us all the time? Even to the shrieking shack too? "

"Shrieking shack? Is that where the tunnel under the whopping willow ends? No, I did not enter the tunnel beneath that homicidal tree, I waited near the lake until you returned. More important than what happened at the shack, is what I found near the lake ..."

With that the girl got off the bed, took something in a pocket of the robe that she had discarded on the floor and showed it to the boy. The sun must have been rising already, as the light in the infirmary had improved a little. Harry could tell that the girl had long blonde hair, which ran more than halfway down her back. But the important thing was what she held so he could see: a small cage, with a fat and somewhat maltreated rat inside. A rat that was missing a finger on a front paw.


	2. 02 Homework

**A/N:** My thanks to TheGreatBubbaJ for beta-reading and correction of this chapter. Also my thanks for the wonderful welcome to this story. Unfortunately, not much action in this chapter, just closing the year. But the summer vacation begins in the next chapter with lots of news!

 **Chapter 2 - Homework**

The next few days contained a lot of discoveries for Harry. His new friend had stayed with Wormtail, and she had taken care to see Sirius rehabilitated. She had vehemently refused the boy's plan to hand the rat over to Dumbledore, and showed strong distrust of the renowned headmaster. This inevitably drew the boy's attention to some facts, most of which she cited in defending her cynicism and mistrust: as head of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore could have done more for his godfather, and as his alleged magical guardian during Sirius' forced absence, he should also have done something to improve Harry's life with his relatives; as well as other things, such as the continuing security breaches at Hogwarts.

Telling his previous adventures to her was a lesson in critical thinking that Harry would never forget. How could he have believed that Dumbledore didn't know of Voldemort's presence in his first year? How could have he believed that the protections for the Philosopher's Stone, which three first-year students had beat, could be able to stand against the onslaught of a powerful dark wizard? And the basilisk roaming around the school? And the Dementors invading the Quidditch pitch, despite the protections around the castle? Or an Animagus hiding for years without being unmasked?

But there was even more. All the fame that the boy had received, and that put him in danger, only existed because Dumbledore decided that the wizarding world needed a hero to idolize. The magical world could easily have been convinced that he too had died that night, or that he was just an ordinary child who had in no way contributed to Voldemort's disappearance. His life could have been so much simpler and happier!

Astoria Greengrass was an enigma for the boy-who-lived. Gorgeous, from a rich and old family, highly intelligent, with knowledge beyond what to expect for her age, brave as the best of the Gryffindors, the girl was able to behave like an angel at certain times, and as the queen of mordacity and cleverness in others.

To the boy's astonishment, she had started the project of helping Harry improve by giving him some little 'homework.' The purpose of these duties had completely escaped the boy at first, but they had quickly borne fruit, and bitter tasting fruit at that. One of these duties was to make some new friends, which the girl had chosen carefully: Neville Longbottom, from his year in Gryffindor; Susan Bones, also in his year, but from Hufflepuff; and Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw a year down from him.

The task should have been simple, and Harry was happy with the idea. He honestly felt that he was past the time to expand his friendships. What he didn't count on was the interference of his two main friends, but mostly Ron. Taking note of this interference in a notebook as a part of his second task, developing lists of qualities and defects of his friends, the results worried the boy a lot.

One of the first things Harry realized was how his two best friends were different and how much these differences manifested themselves in constant quarrels and discussions, most of which he ends up having to interfere as mediator and reliever. Nor was it hard to realize that Ron was quite attached to his fame as the boy-who-lived's best friend, and he seemed to be fighting every attempt by Harry to expand his circle of friends. On the other hand, although Hermione did not seem to care so much about Harry pursuing new friends, her bossy, controlling style made the task quite difficult, especially in the case of the students suggested by Astoria, the three being naturally shy and quiet.

Even with so few days remaining, Harry was able to evolve a lot with his new friendships. He was rewarded by the close attention he paid to them, and by what he could do for his new friends. It was easy to see that Neville was fighting against a wand that wouldn't obey him. A conversation with Professor McGonagall had been enough for her to get in touch with the boy's grandmother and tear out the promise that the boy would have his own wand for the next school year. Another conversation, this time with Professor Flitwick, made the abuses against the sweet and peaceful Luna stop at once. Finally, a harsh and rough conversation with Zacharias Smith, accompanied by some threats, convinced the pushy and annoying boy that Susan wanted nothing to do with him and that any further advances would be grounds for retaliation led to Susan being relieved of her school time woes. Harry was very happy when Astoria praised him for having perceived the problems all by himself and settled them all on his own initiative.

The third and final task Astoria had asked Harry to perform was relative to the elective courses offered at Hogwarts. It didn't take long for the boy to realize the tremendous mistake he had made in selecting his electives. Yes, Arithmancy and Runes were difficult, but they were also extremely useful and important. A serious conversation with the two teachers, a strong determination to do better, and a commitment that he would study the subject of the third year during his summer vacation assured him the opportunity to change that sad picture, provided he showed good marks in the exams he will be taking at the beginning of the next school year.

-o0o-

Astoria and Harry's encounters occurred on alternate days, through a fairly secure scheme worked out by them, by making use of two special resources of Harry's: his invisibility cloak and the Marauders' map. Astoria had the task of arranging a suitable place for the meeting, remote and little used. Harry then simply hid under the cloak and looked for her with the help of the map.

It was at the last of these meetings, on the eve of leaving for a vacation, that Astoria told the boy her new plan.

"Though I did my best, Potter, Pettigrew's trial will not take place until next week. He was delivered directly to Madame Bones, Susan's aunt who runs the Magical Law Enforcement Department, with very direct instructions. She will do the right thing, but this is a situation that requires a delicate hand. You cannot imagine the repercussions that the failure of justice towards Mr Black will entail. Important careers are at stake..."

"I understand, and I thank you deeply for your help," he answered truthfully. "Do you think something could still go wrong?"

"Only if one or more of those with much to lose discover Pettigrew's existence before the trial. Madame Bones is doing her best to avoid it, and I trust her. There is no one with more integrity than her throughout the Ministry."

"Is that why you advised me to make friends with Susan?"

"That was one of the factors, though not the only one," the girl replied with a wry smile. "Surely, we can agree that Susan is more than attractive enough to be worth it all by herself."

After stammering, choking and coughing, Harry finally answered with a simple "Tori!"

"Oh, taking liberties with my name already, Mr Potter? How bold of you."

"Uh, no, sorry. But please don't talk like this ... It embarrasses me."

"I am aware, and I will fix this weakness, Potter. It is one of my next projects for you."

Harry glanced worriedly at Astoria, but decided to change the subject as soon as possible to avoid further embarrassment.

"I see I'll have to spend some time with the Dursleys..."

"Absolutely not!" The girl replied vehemently. "My partner returning to that hellhole is something I will not allow to occur! Besides, I have no doubt it would undue nearly all the progress I have made with you in our time together."

"Maybe I could stay in the Leaky Cauldron, like last summer..."

"No, Potter. Can you not see that it would be the first place they would look for you? You will spend these coming weeks at my residence."

"But ... your parents ..."

"They will be traveling across the continent while my sister and I are left alone with our homework until they come back and decide something boring and useless for us to do the rest of the summer!"

"Still, how are you going to convince your sister not to dob on us?"

"Blackmail of course. What did you expect?" she replied and Harry once again was startled by the direct and unconventional way the girl faced all her problems.

"Do not worry, Potter. My sister has already agreed to everything, and you will reap some of the benefits of our deal. You will travel normally on the Express, but when we stop on platform 9 and ¾ you will come to the opposite column to the exit under your special cloak and we will activate the portkey from there. Whoever looks at us will see only two sisters going home alone."

"My uncle will hate waiting for me and coming home late and having no one to vent his anger on... Good!"

-o0o-

To the displeasure of Ron and Hermione, Harry made sure his new friends shared the train compartment with the trio. Susan also brought her friends Hannah and Megan with her, to Harry and Neville's delight, and to Ron's bitterness. Said sour grape folded his arms and stared out the window for most of the train ride to London.

Hermione also didn't feel much better, especially when Harry made an effort to better understand little Luna's worldview. Harry made a question-and-answer game with the blonde while making a huge effort to ignore Hermione's frequent and scathing remarks, which rebutted Luna's every sentence with expressions like 'Nonsense', 'No proof', 'Madness' and the like.

The situation changed suddenly when Harry had an idea and asked Luna to describe how she saw him in detail. As the girl finished describing what Harry was beginning to think was his magical aura, he concentrated as if he were about to cast his Patronus, but without a wand or enunciating the spell, and asked if anything had changed.

"Oh yeah! Gorgeous, gorgeous! You're much brighter now, Harry, and such a handsome silvery tone! And your right hand, it seems to have grown huge, and it's shining like one of those lights that Muggles use to illuminate the streets! It is how teachers look when they are about to cast a really powerful spell."

"What about the nargles? Are they still around?"

"Not near you, Harry. They haven't come any closer to you for days. Since the last full moon, I think..."

"Great! You're going to help me keep away from them, aren't you?"

"Sure, Harry. But I don't think you're going to have any more trouble with them, do you?"

Harry was amazed! Luna had given him a smile that had something of a mischief that he could not match with the almost always angelic expression of the girl. Fortunately, Susan and Megan, convinced now that Luna was able to see auras and interested in knowing about the appearance of theirs, became the new centre of attention and left the boy alone with his thoughts.

Harry took the opportunity to see each of his companions. Ron seemed to be even more discomforted than before, as if the possibility that there was some truth behind Luna's assertions was a personal attack against him. The only time the redhead had opened his mouth during the whole trip was to propose a game of chess, which no one accepted.

Hermione was thoughtful, apparently making a serious effort to try to understand Luna's claims more thoroughly with this new evidence. Yes, the girl was a little bossy and too assertive in her statements, but she had, as Hagrid said, 'her heart in the right place' and was constantly striving to do the best she could. It would only be needed to smooth some more rough edges of her personality and she would be a great person to have as a friend.

Harry waited anxiously to see how Neville would behave with a new wand. The boy was quite quiet, but he seemed very attentive to everything going on around him and, if his performance with the new wand was significantly better, he could become a major figure in the wizarding world when an adult. The boy was also very considerate and solicitous, and rarely spoke ill of anyone, showing qualities that, with a little more self-esteem, would make him an excellent friend.

Susan was gradually losing her baby fat and becoming fascinating. Along with Lavender and Daphne, she was one of the most attention-grabbing girls in his year, due to the swift and bulging development of their breasts. 'Oops, another subject, another subject,' thought Harry, trying not to blush. He then turned his thoughts to the girl's personality, and noted the similarities between her and Luna. Both were very gentle and soft, almost angelic. They spoke in a soft, controlled way that was almost a whisper. The two were equally calm and with a joy to live, and to do what was possible for their friends that Harry greatly esteemed. Luna still stood out for her unique world view, and her habit to say what she thought in a totally frank and delightful naiveté.

Harry didn't know much about the other two girls. Hannah seemed a bit too outgoing for his liking, but she laughed easily and was usually in a good mood, which made her easily tolerable. Megan was harder to examine. Like Neville, she was very quiet but also very observant. She revealed very little of herself, but she seemed like pleasant company.

Awakened from his daydreams by the slowing of the train, Harry let the others say goodbye and leave one by one, promising to get in touch, and happy to have expanded his group of friends. Finally alone, he put on his invisibility cloak and set out for Astoria.

It was easy to find the two sisters, and soon Harry held Astoria by the waist with one hand, so that she knew of his arrival, while he placed the other on the ribbon that would serve as portkey. Immediately after his arrival Astoria, smiling, touched the ribbon with her wand and clearly said "Home", activating the portkey.


	3. 03 With the Greengrass sisters

**A/N:** My thanks to TheGreatBubbaJ for beta-reading and correction of this chapter.

 **Chapter 3 - With the Greengrass Sisters**

The Greengrass sisters had no idea what it was like to use magical transport together with Harry Potter, and they were outraged at getting entwined with the boy on the floor of the mansion's living room. A house-elf appeared to see what the commotion was, receive his orders from Daphne, and then the three trunks disappeared with the elf.

The three students stood up, and Daphne surprised Harry by getting close to the boy, placing a hand on his chest and eagerly evaluating him. "Um, I cannot wait!" She said slyly, turning to her sister and asking, "Only tomorrow?" Receiving confirmation from Astoria, Daphne left leaving the two alone commenting "What a pity!"

"Only tomorrow?" Harry asked confused.

"Only tomorrow, Potter," confirmed Astoria, further compounding his confusion. "Come, I will show you the house."

-o0o-

'Palace' would describe that place better than 'house'. With two levels in the basement, four floors and an attic, it was a gigantic and extremely luxurious residence. Perhaps it corresponded in volume to an eighth of Hogwarts, or a little more, but for sure it would be worth much more than its size would suggest due to the wealth of the materials used in its construction. The opulence of the furniture and articles of decoration, all of an impeccable good taste, although somewhat old fashioned in Harry's opinion, only added to this.

"Why such a large house, you're only a family of four aren't you?" he finally asked his hostess after they had finished visiting another wing.

"Pure ostentatious opulence!" she replied irritably. "That ridiculous manly mania of thinking that bigger means better! That foolish machismo of seeing any other man as a competitor, and of wanting to defeat everyone and always being above any of their fellows! Did you see that huge music room with all those instruments? A perfect example, as there is no record of a single Greengrass in the whole family history who has ever tried to learn to play an instrument, yet we have one nonetheless!"

To the surprise of the boy, after that outburst of disdain, Astoria threw herself into his arms and, sobbing, continued: "This is what I want to escape, Potter. This empty life that is just appearances and no substance. This nostalgia for the past that condemns the future to be a mere repetition of what no longer serves. This absurd male tradition that condemns us women to be just another decoration of the home. This whole hypocrisy of a male finding himself better than others just because he was born into the right family, even though he has never done anything for himself! Help me please."

-o0o-

Astoria took only a few minutes to regain her composure. By mutual agreement, the two halted the exploration of the house and occupied the nearest room for a long conversation and a light dinner before the day ended. After their meal, the blonde showed Harry the room where he would spend most of his nights that summer.

During the conversation, Harry received an extensive and comprehensive lesson about the magical world's elite, and their petty little games of power, position, and wealth. If, as heir and last of the Potters, they expected him to participate actively in those silly machinations and tricks, they would be well disappointed. There, at that moment, he decided that he would rather live like a Muggle than be part of such decadence.

Out of curiosity, he had asked his new friend what kind of life she would like to live. He was curious as to whether there would be some more viable and enjoyable magical lifestyle rather than just the ones he was currently aware of. He had seen very little up to now: members of Wizengamot and government officials, shopkeepers from Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and Hogwarts teachers. None of these options particularly interested him. Being a young man, he yearned for something far more adventurous and interesting than the banal repetition of the day-to-day activities.

To his surprise, Astoria didn't know much more than him about the careers in the magical world. She made it clear how purebred girls were spoiled and overly protected by their parents, and had very few opportunities to leave home without adult supervision, the only exception being school.

After getting some details from the girl Harry had to agree that her wishes were very close to his. Get out of school and run around the world, seeing new places and meeting new people, until you find someone to have a small family with in a modest but cosy home with plenty of free space and to dedicate yourself to some kind of research or study. The smile she gave him when he noticed the similarity of plans made him happy, though a little worried. He liked the girl, but the mere idea of a marriage contract seemed so premature!

-o0o-

"Come on," Daphne said to Harry after they had finished breakfast, taking the boy's hand and leading him to a small, cosy living room, Astoria following them closely.

The two older children stood in the centre of the room, standing facing each other, while Astoria let herself sit comfortably in an armchair, watching the action unfold.

"If I know my sister well, and I really know her, you should not have the slightest idea of what we are going to do, do you?"

"Uh, no, not really," the boy replied before timidly asking, "What are we going to do?"

Grinning maliciously, Daphne replied as she began to undress, much to Harry's astonishment: "We will learn together some very important lessons for our future success. We are entering an age where sexual attraction becomes very strong, and that is a weakness we do not want to have, correct?"

Because of the lesson, Daphne had only dressed in lingerie and a robe on top. Having already shed the robe, she was currently delighting in Harry's attention to her attributes. The poor boy was no longer very coherent, and answered only with a dubious "No?"

Approaching Harry, Daphne began to remove his robe while explaining, "No, Potter, not really. Oh, yes, we want the benefits - pleasure and power - but not the weaknesses, you see."

"I- I think so ..." he hesitated, before confessing "But I feel so weak now ..."

"That's exactly what we should change. Remember that half the people in the world are female. You need to learn what weapons we use to get what we want and how to protect yourself against them. And seduction, from puberty on, ends up being the main one," commented the blonde, while Harry could not help but enjoy watching the scantily clad girl get rid of the penultimate piece of clothing. She then stepped forward and undid his own robe, leaving him in only his cousin's cast offs. "Do you like what you see?" she almost laughed when she was finally only in panties.

"Very much! I never had a great understanding of art ... but ... now that's changed ... you're a work of art, Daphne!"

"Impressive, very romantic, Potter. Praising the girl is always a beneficial action. You deserve a reward."

Daphne, who had also taken the boy's shirt off, moved closer to him, displaying her already well-developed breasts to him. In response, Harry could only stand there, a goofy smile on his lips, enjoying the sight and oblivious to everything else.

"Potter, can you see how vulnerable you are now? Can you see how I could make you promise or do anything I wanted if I had the intention of taking advantage of you?"

That question, after a few moments, finally caught Harry's attention, which was then able to raise his gaze from her breasts to her eyes, and to feel ashamed at the pathetic state he was in.

"Now I can, but only because you called my attention to the situation," he confessed.

"Potter ..."

"Harry. Call me Harry, please? "

"No, Potter. We should not. If we get used to it now, we will eventually do it in school too... and it can be dangerous for us."

Harry stared at Daphne, and then at Astoria, before nodding that he understood. Daphne then placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, her fingers trailing gently over a scar that was clearly the work of a belt buckle by the shape of the mark. His body so close to a girl so beautiful and bare again affected Harry strongly, but he did his best and managed to keep himself under control.

Daphne stepped slightly on Harry's shoe and whispered, "Take them off, Potter," to which the boy readily obeyed, removing his shoes and socks. "There is still one more piece you need to take off to keep us on a level playing field, Potter," she said, looking at the boy's pants.

"Uh... no, not really. My clothes are all hand-me-downs from my cousin and... uh, I never accepted 'that' kind of piece from him," Harry explained, blushing slightly.

"I see," Daphne said with a gentle smile, softened by the strange situation in which the boy had been forced to live. With a quick movement, she got rid of her last garment and, revealing herself in all her splendour to the boy, seductively fluttering her eyelids at him, uttering "And now shall we make things even?"

Harry stared at that fantastic body for a moment, wondering what kind of lottery had awarded him such a fortune, before getting rid of his last piece of cloth as well.

Daphne realized that the discomfort Harry displayed wasn't solely due to their nakedness, and decided to investigate.

"Tell me what you are feeling, Potter. The more detailed the better. Let's learn together, okay?" she said tenderly.

"Shame," he replied, elaborating more under Daphne's questioning gaze. "Not from nudity, but ... uh ... from my body ... You're so beautiful! All perfect, with immaculate skin, and everything perfectly proportioned ... And I am ... so skinny, really just skin and bone, and covered in so many scars!"

"We are going to change that, Potter. Do not worry; my little sister has lots of plans for you, and you will benefit a lot from them," Daphne replied, and they smiled at each other. "Are you ready for the last lesson this morning?"

Smiling even more, Harry decided to play a little and replied, "Not at all, but I'll do my best."

With a wry smile, Daphne let her hand drop from the boy's shoulder to her side and invited him, "You can touch me now ... gently."

Daphne expected for the boy's two hands to swiftly cover her breasts and feel them, and she was surprised at his reaction. Harry took a step forward, eliminating the distance between them, and gently hugged her. He pressed his face to hers and felt the softness of her breasts against his chest. Further down, his degree of arousal was clearly perceptible by the pressure of his cock against her lower belly. As his right hand gently caressed her back and Daphne's long hair, his left hand darted, and gently walked through her derrière.

After the surprise, Daphne responded with affection for a few minutes, until she decided to take the initiative and kiss Harry, slowly and smoothly, avoiding surrendering too much in that first encounter. After a while, she finally broke away from him and, smiling and stroking his face, said "Next class right here, late afternoon."

Harry stood there, admiring the girl as she turned and walked out of the room, marvelling at the grace and beauty of her movements. Even several minutes after Daphne's departure, Harry was still standing there naked, his vacant gaze searching for something in the infinite beyond reality, until Astoria's unrestrained giggles brought him back to the present.

-o0o-

Astoria already had plans for the rest of the morning, and began to put them into practice as soon as her sister left them. A quick call by Floo and within minutes Harry was undergoing a full clinical examination by Healer Mitchell.

"I'm shocked, Mr Potter. A boy of your age, with more scars and broken bones than an Auror at the end of his career, honestly! And that's not even the most serious!"

"What is more serious, Mrs Mitchell?" Astoria quickly asked, a second ahead of Harry.

"Why, that scar, of course! Contains more black magic than any ... Oh, dear Merlin! Can it be? I'll have to ask a specialist to examine it, but if it is ... Merlin protect us!"

"Please tell us what you can, Mrs Mitchell, even if only suspicions," Harry asked visibly worried.

The old lady looked at the boy with apprehension, assessing what to reveal or not to the children. At last she decided and explained: "I'd rather not go into details about my suspicions until I can confirm them, I'm sorry. But give me a day or two and I'll be back with someone and then we'll have our answers, okay?"

"Uh ... yes, if you feel that would be for the best," answered the not very convinced boy.

"Mr Potter, this scar is related to your encounter as a baby with ... You-know-who, isn't it?" Receiving an affirmative nod from the boy, Mrs Mitchell then asked the question that worried her so much: "Would you happen to have found any clue that ... 'he' ... had not really died on that Halloween?"

"That dark magic in my scar is something bad he did, isn't it? Something that should have disappeared if he had actually died, right?" Harry asked, startled by the implications he was beginning to realize. Without waiting for verbal confirmation, since the Healer's expression said everything, he answered her question: "Yes, he is still around. And please do not use these 'you-know-who' euphemisms. If you don't want to speak the name he created for himself, use his real name: Tom Riddle. Incidentally, Tom Marvolo Riddle..."

Harry then explained how that name had been transformed into an anagram, and his encounters with that freak in his first two years at Hogwarts.

"Merlin protects us! He can come back, then. Oh, I need to see to this urgently. Meanwhile, Mr Potter, you must enter into a potions regimen to help you get rid of all those nutrition deficiencies and also an ointment for those scars."

Half an hour later Mrs Mitchell left, Harry took the first of what would be many nutrient potions, and Astoria and her sister joined him in the sitting room. The young blond brought plenty of writing material and positioned herself near a coffee table, sitting on the floor and ready to take notes while Daphne settled in on the couch next to Harry.

"Now, Harry, start talking. Tell us all about your life at Hogwarts, right from the start. We need all the details."


	4. 04 First Changes

**A/N:** My thanks to TheGreatBubbaJ for beta-reading and correction of this chapter.

 **Chapter 4 – First Changes**

To tell the sisters his experiences at Hogwarts was a cathartic activity for Harry and allowed him to examine, with his new critical eye and the girls' help, how strange his stay in the castle had been until then. It also greatly heightened his suspicions about the headmaster and his shame in having hitherto devoted so little effort to learning more about magic and this strange new world into which he was inserted.

"This elf you freed from Malfoy, where is he now?" Daphne asked after Harry finished his story.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since," Harry replied, curious about her motives.

"Call him," she said simply, and Harry complied. A 'pop' and soon the excited elf was there with them, praising the 'Great and Noble Harry Potter, sir' for remembering of poor Dobby.

"Elf, are you currently connected to any family?" Daphne asked Dobby, who promptly said he was still free. The girl then asked Harry to take the elf at his service and, realizing the boy's reluctance, explained in detail the elves' need to be attached to a wizard or witch in order to survive. Harry confirmed the facts with Dobby and, convinced that the elf really wanted to be under his command, completed the quick adoption ritual.

Dobby wanted to immediately start working for Harry, but the boy couldn't think of anything for the elf to do. The Greengrass sisters, on the other hand, soon showed him the thousand and one uses of having an elf at their disposal, and handed the elf an initial list of tasks. Dobby left happy. With those two girls helping his master, his life would be quite hectic, just the way he liked it.

Every few minutes Dobby would come back with something for them. The first stop of the elf had been Gringotts, where Dobby obtained a form for Harry to fill out and sign, entitling the elf to make withdrawals and solicit services from the bank on behalf of his master. Minutes later Dobby returned from Gringotts with several rolls of parchment where Harry and the girls could check his financial condition and other important details. The boy also allowed Dobby to take his measures so that suitable clothes could be bought. A magical optician came by the Floo network and, after examining Harry, promised to deliver contact lenses for the next day. Harry thought it odd, but he accepted Daphne's suggestion of taking two transparent pairs and a brown pair for disguise.

Harry had to examine the paperwork Dobby had brought from Gringotts by himself, as the girls dived into the task of choosing the boy's next clothes as soon as Dobby brought the first catalogues. Not knowing much about finances and laws, Harry went on to separate the documents into three piles: 'Interesting', 'Not Interesting' and 'Ask the Girls'. Unfortunately, the last pile was by far the tallest. However, in the 'Interesting' stack there was some important information. Harry had enough money to live for himself until he was of age, when he would have access to even more money that might allow him to live his whole life without working. He also had some properties, perhaps even one that was habitable and could be his new home. Finally, the list of belongings accumulated in the family vault included several personal items from his parents, including some diaries and notebooks that could give the boy a much better sense of who they had been.

Time passed quickly, and soon was time for his 'second lesson' with Daphne. In a few minutes he was naked, with an equally naked Daphne hugging him and murmuring in his ear.

"Tell me, Potter, why do you think we are here, like this?"

Harry thought of simply replying 'Because it's so good,' but in the end he decided that a more elaborate response would be necessary to avoid the abrupt end of that hot experience. Still, he decided to make it clear how much he appreciated that situation.

"I think 'pleasure' is part of the answer. I really like being this way with you; and for me that would be worth it. But I know there's more. It is not only experiencing pleasure, but getting used to it and learning to control what we feel and how we act. I feel an inner fire ... As you said in the morning, if I do not control myself I can lose myself in this pleasure and end up doing, or committing myself to do, things that I will regret later."

"Impressive, a boy who can think in a situation like this, what a pleasant surprise." She replied, laughing in a way that rocked many things and greatly increased the boy's pleasure, somewhat harming that esteemed capacity to think.

"We are entering an age where our hormones will make us very vulnerable, Potter. For example, I currently have immense value. I am the heiress of an important, rich and powerful magical family. Two options open to me, depending on if my family wishes to preserve its autonomy or not. I could marry someone from a less noble family, demanding that our first male be declared a Greengrass and inherit control of the family directly from my father. Or I could be sold to an even more powerful family, who, if the heiress's position was not passed to Astoria, would receive control of my family. However, this would leave my father much richer and more powerful while he lived. Also of note, if I lose my virginity before getting married I will be considered a 'damaged commodity', and my value would fall considerably. In such a case, since I have a younger sister, it is more likely that my father would disown me, expelling me from the family, and making Astoria the new heiress. In that case, I would be in the same position as a Muggle-born, refused by those of pure blood and having to look for a half-blood or Muggle-born as a husband. "

"The kind of contract with me that would help Astoria would not be favourable to you, would it?" asked Harry curiously.

"My father would not take it, because your mother was Muggle-born. Your family is well positioned and relatively wealthy, but not enough to cover this alleged taint. Though I am pleased you are interested in helping me, Potter. However, we do not have to worry about it for now. My dad will not bargain me before I get my OWLs. He expects good grades to increase my value even more."

"It's so annoying to see you treated as commodities, I don't know how you've lived with it for so long!" The boy raged.

"Let's put this aside for now and go back to class. First, how to kiss, then how to excite a girl."

-o0o-

Harry woke up early the next morning, in a good mood and with a good disposition, so much so that he exercised for half an hour before taking a quick shower and preparing for a new day, wearing new and comfortable clothes.

Shortly after breakfast he had another 'lesson' with Daphne, which only increased his happiness and good humour. This morning, his mission was to try to 'read' the signals Daphne's body language passed to him, trying to figure out what she wanted and what she didn't like, trying to get his partner to the greatest pleasure without her having to tell him what to do. It was so much pleasure for both of them that they had to close the class earlier: a small accident occurred, and they both decided to leave for another shower.

Shortly thereafter, Daphne decided to begin the examination of the documents Dobby brought from Gringotts, leaving Harry in Astoria's care. The two of them decided to walk around the property, each wanting to talk about one issue with the other. Always the perfect gentleman, Harry let the girl begin.

"Harry, I've been thinking of everything you told us yesterday, and the more I think, the less I understand. To think that You-know ..." the girl then stopped at the expression of disgust on Harry's face, and resolved to correct himself. "Okay, V-Voldemort ... satisfied? But back to the subject, to think that Voldemort is the son of a Muggle, with how much he poses as guardian of the purity of blood and all this bullshit about traditions, and nobody knows of his past, that does not make sense! If Dumbledore, and probably others, know this, why has nothing come to the public? Why let him deceive other purebred youths with his lies, if truth could keep many from swearing fealty to him? One would almost think those in the know are trying to help him. The situation is even worse if he can return at any time ... Spreading the truth could hinder this return, or at least diminish his ability to gather support."

"I agree," Harry stated, before looking thoughtful for a moment. Finally, he expressed his doubt: "Do you think if we wrote everything we know about him in an article, could we get someone to publish it?"

"Difficult. The magical press is in the hands of purebloods, and even if it is true I do not think they would take the risk. Though come to think of it … Potter, there is someone who would print the real story of Voldemort regardless of the consequences, however there may be one small problem. The reputation of him and his magazine are not exactly the best, but you have befriended his daughter, that is an open door that we can explore."

"Luna? Does Luna's father have a magazine?" asked Harry curiously.

"He does. What do you think? I can call her by Floo and invite her and her father to visit us and interview you. We can first make a rough plan by listing all the important facts and mark which ones to divulge or not, which ones we can offer evidence or at least indications that can be checked, and so on. We must think well before we act, see if the timing is correct for what facts, and what others would be better left off for another time, you know?"

"No, but I'll learn from you, I'm sure," the boy commented, giving Astoria a big smile, leaving her immensely happy with the confidence and satisfaction Harry demonstrated with the help she had been giving him.

"Well, my most urgent matter is settled then. We will make the list, and after defining the topics, we will call the Lovegoods for a visit," confirmed Astoria before turning to Harry. "You had a subject to discuss too, did you not?"

"Oh, more than one." He smiled. "But there is one in particular: now that Dobby works for me and can withdraw money from the bank and make the purchases I need, what prevents me from simply hiding in one of my family's estates behind all possible protections? Heck, even a Fidelius spell with me as the guardian of the secret, leaving me sitting pretty to ignore the rest of the wizarding world entirely, especially the corrupt government and Voldemort?"

Astoria gaped at Harry then thought for a long time. 'Are all the Gryffindors so radical?' was the first thought she had. Then, thinking about the kind of life the boy had lived up to then, she concluded that the idea of putting everything aside was not so strange.

"I do not know, Potter. I would have to investigate the laws... Maybe it could complicate matters where the use of public services is needed, like St. Mungo's, Hogwarts, or the Knight Bus. Other than that, I do not see anything else. But these services are paid, so maybe..."

"Couldn't be there a lot of people like this, Astoria, hidden? Hogwarts is huge! How many students were there five hundred or a thousand years ago? I think it should be much more than it currently holds. And did they all die childless? Or have all they moved away, abandoning Britain forever? Of course, we had a fair number of evil wizards, but did they justify such a large drop in the magical population? Didn't even at least a portion of these missing people hide right here, instead of fleeing abroad or letting themselves be killed?"

Once again Astoria was astounded, but with a hint of mixed pride. She had given the initial push for Potter to start thinking for himself, and was now surprised by the results that had begun to appear in such a short time.

"That is a very interesting idea, Potter. Maybe Xenophilius, Luna's father, can help us unravel this case. But... what is your interest in this point? Run away from Voldemort if he comes back, or is there anything else?"

"All these girls who are in a situation like yours, or equally bad... or even boys, if there are some... I'm not sure, but it would be a way to escape the imposition of parents, or the government, or of any tyrant who appears trying to tell us how we should live our lives and what we can or cannot do..." elaborated Harry.

Astoria placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, making an impulse run through his body. The smile she gave him was like a reinvigorating potion to him.

"Potter, your willingness to help everyone is wonderful, but there are many obstacles. First, how to trust everyone? We would have to demand some form of magical contract or oath so that no one would betray the cause... And the money to support this whole group? Most children have very limited access to funds... And there is also the question that running away in this way means completely cutting the family ties ... For us, pure blood, this is a big step, and a step without return. If Voldemort really comes back, it is a possibility... it would give security... But, under normal circumstances, someone's situation would have to be really bad for them to even consider taking such a drastic step."

"Well ... I thought it might be a solution ..." said Harry, a little dismayed after the points raised by his friend.

"It is a solution, make no mistake. Although I do not think we could get many candidates right away, I think it is a great idea if we can find a Potter property that we could leave prepared for an eventuality. If the situation gets much worse, we could quickly hide there and think calmly about what to do next..."

"I noticed that there are several certificates of ownership in the material that Dobby brought from Gringotts. Would you help me examine them?" Harry suggested, already reanimated.

"Of course! Let's go home and start this already. I also want to see what Daphne has been doing in the meantime," replied the girl. "She can help us with this research, and to prepare the list for Luna's father."

-o0o-

"Hey, you guys, where have you been?" Daphne greeted them as soon as they entered the library. "We have a lot to talk about, quickly, sit down."

The two hurried to sit down and were soon bombarded with news: "The optician has sent your lens, Potter, that packet there," Daphne said, pointing to a small bundle at one corner of the table. "Mrs Mitchell called as well. She'll be here tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. with a specialist to see your scar. Potter, did you know that your family owned a small island hidden in Cardigan Bay? It is not very big, and here it does not say if there are buildings or not on the island, but there is a document here dated from the year 1,126 that says that the island was already yours 'long time immemorial' and that it is 'hidden from all others' since ever! It would be a perfect place to hide if You-Know-Who decides to get back! Or if you, the brave Gryffindor you are, resolve to fight him, it could at least be a secret base of operations!"

"How can we visit this place, if it's so hidden?" asked Harry.

"There is a special portkey in your family vault. I have taken the liberty of drafting a document on your behalf requesting it to be delivered to Dobby. In fact, I thought you would like to learn more about your parents, and I have also included the request to have the diaries listed on that parchment delivered," concluded Daphne, pointing to the list Harry had seen the day before with the contents of his vaults.

"Well thought out!" Harry praised as he signed the paper Daphne had given him. "Is Dobby doing something for you or is he free?"

With a loud 'pop' Dobby materialized alongside Harry. "Dobby is ready to serve the big, generous master Harry Potter, sir!"

"All these articles which are in the family vaults, can I already access them? I thought I could just use my personal vault..." Harry asked a little confused.

Daphne and Astoria exchanged a meaningful glance before the youngest replied, "I do not know if it is mere forgetfulness of adults or if you are being purposely kept ignorant of the minutiae of the magical world, but it is really strange that a person with your past knows so little of our world, Potter!"

"With so much that I am discovering now it seems there is a plot against me! What I do not understand is: what could anyone gain from my ignorance?"

Again, the two girls exchanged glances until finally Daphne replied: "We do not know at the moment. We need more information. It may be something connected to You-Know-Who, as it may also be something connected with your family, which is one of the oldest magical families on the Islands. The best we can do is correct those deficiencies without raising suspicions and keeping an eye open for the motives and intentions of those who try to manipulate you."

"If there is in fact someone trying to take advantage of your situation, they are more likely to try to strike before your adulthood. Have you noticed the number of spells, potions and hexes that can be used to manipulate a person's mind?" Astoria added with visible concern. "Daphne, we need to teach Potter about Occlumency and detection of potions and charms..."

"We ourselves must improve our knowledge, Tori," Daphne commented. "Maybe involve the whole group... Did you tell him about the group?"

"Which group?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Not yet," replied Astoria. "We talked about divulging some articles in the Quibbler then the conversation turned aside. By the way..."

"Wait a minute!" interrupted Daphne. "We need to get organized, create a priority list and stick as closely as possible to it. Do you see how we are working in many directions? We will need to focus on one point at a time, or we will not get many results, jumping from one subject to another according to the trends of the moment."

"How much time do we have? When do your parents come back?" asked Harry.

"They will come back on August 2nd, but that may not have much impact..." Astoria replied.

"We can meet somewhere else. Tracy's house, for example. Or at least we can tell our parents we will be there, and meet anywhere else," completed Daphne.

"We have about two months then, and I need to learn a bit of Runes and Arithmancy at that time," Harry interjected. "Can I do it?"

"The first year is pretty simple, Potter. With two hours a day per subject in a month you will be at the same point as me, as long as you work hard," Daphne explained. "By the way, those are my notes and the book of Runes we are using, and right there the same for Arithmancy. You can start now, while Tori and I start the priority list."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" replied Harry, giving the girl an irreverent salute before beginning his studies. Unfortunately, the Muggle reference to bossy Army sergeants went unnoticed by the two, who only took the act as another eccentricity of the boy.

-o0o-

Fortunately, Daphne was right and the opening chapters of Runes were nothing more than a history of its development and a classification of the different types that Harry could read and understand alone and quickly. The early Arithmancy chapters were even easier, just a review of the arithmetic Harry had learned in Muggle School before Hogwarts. When the three of them decided to stop for a late lunch Harry had already advanced over a third of the total Rune content and half the Arithmancy content, much to the astonishment of the girls.

"Argh! So that is why I could not beat Granger in Arithmancy!" complained Daphne. "You muggle-raised already enter Hogwarts with an advantage over us!"

"What do you learn before Hogwarts? Isn't there a prep school or something?" asked Harry.

Daphne was still too busy complaining about the injustice she had discovered, so Astoria replied to the boy, "No school. Our parents taught us the basics, and hired tutors for the rest, but the topics we studied have nothing in common with what we see at Hogwarts. We learn to read and write, our family history, magical traditions and customs, rules of fashion and etiquette, ballroom dancing, a bit about business and law... In short, lots of glamour and little practical content. Remember that the idea is to transform us into future model-wives. They do not want us to become independent and confident, that is just for the boys!"

Astoria's revulsion with the situation of the pureblood girls was visible (and audible) in the way she had expressed herself, to the point that Harry was curious about how a system that despised the qualities of half its members (not counting the contempt for the half-bloods and muggleborns) had succeeded in establishing itself and perpetuating itself for so long.

"Have you women never rebelled against this situation?" He asked.

"Yes, several times," was Astoria's answer. "But the situation is complex. As women, we do not have access to the wealth of our families, unless there is no man fit to become the head of the family. Even when we achieve to rule the family, there are laws severely limiting what a woman can do, while nothing limits men. An open revolt against the head of the family is a reason to be disinherited and sent out as pariahs. To someone with knowledge of the Muggle world, this could mean freedom and a new beginning, but imagine myself or Daphne in this situation: without documents, without proper instruction, not knowing how to survive in the Muggle world, with no one to help us... we would not survive."

"What if someone helped? What if you had the support of someone who knows the Muggle world, and who could support you for a while, until you learned enough to take care of yourself?"

"First, you need to understand that not all pureblood girls revolt against their situation, Potter," Daphne commented. "Some, like Parkinson, are happy with the prospect of being treated like luxury dolls and shine at parties and balls as an extra ornament in the arms of some powerful and influential wizard. But with You-Know-Who... ok, with Voldemort... satisfied? With Voldemort about to come back and support the purists even more... and this secret island and your willingness to help us... Tori, do you think the group would accept a male member? Do you think we can reach a mutual agreement, a vote of mutual help that gives security and benefits to all?"

Astoria considered for a moment before answering. "We do not know when he will return, but it would be wise to have a contingency plan. Put the visit to Potter Island as a high priority. Depending on the island's living conditions, we can think about the groups then."

"The 'groups'?" asked Daphne intrigued. "Are you thinking of trying to unite the three groups?"

"Sorry for the interruption, but what groups are you people mentioning so often?" asked Harry curiously.

-o0o-

Harry soon learned that there were three groups at Hogwarts made up of girls for the purpose of protection and mutual assistance among members: Morgana Le Fey, led by Professor Vector, and basically composed of pureblood girls of Slytherin and Ravenclaw; Ursula Southeil, led by Professor Sinistra, basically gathering English girls of any origin; and Maggie Wall, led by Professor Sprout, with a majority of members of Scottish or Welsh origin. It was the latter to whom Daphne and Astoria belonged.

It was no surprise for the boy to find out that the girls ranked 7 to 9 out of the top 10 positions of each year in academic terms. After all, he was friends with 'know-it-all' Granger and 'don't worry about it' Weasley, no surprise there. On the other hand, he was shocked to realize that girls needed protection from far more than bullying and romp. Serious crimes, such as rape and murder, were real dangers, and the laws didn't help as much as they should. To make matters worse, there was a whole repertoire of spells and potions capable of altering people's behaviour and memory, making it much more difficult to discover and prove what really happened. To further worsen the situation, the magical community had a tendency to regard the victims as partially guilty whenever something happened, as if it were the obligation of each to protect themselves, and the right of the criminals to seek undue advantages.

And the machismo of that society, then? Despite the girls' success in school, most purebloods felt that they should be barred from NEWTs, and some even advocated that they be taught at home without attending school at all. Harry was shocked to find that every woman who came to an important post was doomed to be alone. Minister Bagnold, only the second woman to hold office in the history of the Ministry of Magic, had been a spinster, as well as her predecessor, just as were the other women currently in positions of command in the ministry: Amelia Bones, Mafalda Hopkirk and Delores Umbridge. Hogwarts, despite Dumbledore's apparent progressivism, was not much different. Snape had been the first half-blood to get a position at school, and Remus and Hagrid shared the honour of being the first not totally 'human' students. Filch, though not a wizard but a squib, came from a pureblood family while Filius, in spite of the accusations of being part goblin, was in fact another pureblood, a victim of dwarfism. But not a single member of the school is or was married, which had already been the rule for decades. What a strange society this is!

-o0o-

"Got it," Harry commented after the explanation. "Only one doubt: why three groups instead of one?"

"Security and diversity," replied Daphne. "On the one hand, if one group is somehow subverted, the other two can aid in its restructuring. On the other hand, it is common for a person to feel more comfortable with some people than others, and have interests somewhat different according to their origin. With three groups, there may be options about who you will deal with and what matters or issues you will deal with most directly."

"So, do you think Voldemort's return would be enough reason to bring the three groups together?" asked again Harry.

"Certainly," said Daphne. "But that will be for after the holidays, at least. At the moment, we should limit ourselves to our group only. Decide whether we already involve more people or not in our plans."

"As long as we have a minimum of security that our secrets will be kept and we will not be betrayed, I am in favour of expanding our group of conspirators," said Harry confidently. "I don't like keeping secrets unnecessarily. I don't like the situation I see in the wizarding world. I don't like the way adults with power over my life have behaved. And, above all, I don't want to be, nor do I want others to be, unprepared for what may happen in the near future."

The two Greengrass sisters exchanged a glance, amazed at the resolve they saw in the boy. When they turned their attention to him, they found him lost in thought, with a distant look.

"Potter?" Astoria asked gently, trying to bring Harry's attention back to the present.

"Sorry, I was thinking ..."

"Really? Tell us," Daphne said with a smile that softened the harsh demand.

"I was wondering if this island would be big enough to start a new magic society from scratch, omitting all the mistakes we see in the present. I was wondering if a magical contract or oath could install the degree of camaraderie and mutual assistance we need. We will need to unite if we want to vanquish Voldemort. Alone we can at most survive, hidden and constantly afraid to be discovered or betrayed."

"A beautiful dream, Potter, and perhaps not wholly utopian," commented Daphne. "It all depends on finding the right mechanisms to enforce cooperation without overcoming individual freedom and the ability to progress."

"A great topic for the group to discuss, don't you think?" Astoria suggested, much more excited about the idea than her sister. "Shall we involve the group then?"

"Yes, but not so fast, little sister," Daphne said, cooling Astoria's spirits a little. "Let's wait for Mrs Mitchell's visit tomorrow. She was very worried about Potter's scar. Let's wait for the expert's advice before scheduling a meeting. "

-o0o-

The rest of the afternoon brought two news. Dobby returned from Gringotts with the desired items, but with a request from the goblin Ironclaw, responsible for the Potter family accounts, to meet Harry the next morning. And Madame Bones, just before dinner, called for Astoria in the flu network and reported that the double court for Sirius and Peter would take place in four days. The date had been carefully planned, with Dumbledore busy with a meeting at the International Confederation at the same time, Minister Fudge receiving emissaries from the Chinese magical government and the greatest possible opponents away, such as Malfoy and Nott, on vacation in Italy and Greece respectively.

After such a busy day, Harry's special 'lesson' was moved to the Jacuzzi in Daphne's suite and focused on the theme 'massage and relaxation for two'. It finished with the two so relaxed that they decided to sleep together on Daphne's bed, without even expending energy by dressing again.

-o0o-

The next morning Harry was instantly enrolled in another class upon awakening. His breakfast was a forbidden fruit, which the boy sucked willingly, guaranteeing two orgasms to his partner. The rebuttal left him in the clouds, with a goofy smile on his face that drove Astoria into laughter at the sight of him.

Soon after, before Harry visited Gringotts, the three decided to make a first visit to the Potter's island. They were curious to know the place and its possible usefulness. The island was approximately rectangular, about 3 kilometres long and some 800 metres in the widest part, and wasn't inhabited, although it showed clear appearance of having already been, by the various stone constructions near the centre. Although most of the buildings were heavily damaged and visibly worn by time and weather, two towers, one at each end of the building complex, still retained the appearance of functionality.

A quick inspection showed that both towers had the same structure and practically the same content. Six floors above ground and three below, about twenty metres in diameter each. The ground floor was a small entrance hall, a stable and a service area with laundry and depot for cleaning products, followed by a floor with kitchen and dining room while dormitories and living quarters were on the third and fourth floors, large library and a potions lab on the fifth floor and the sixth containing a collection of ancient weapons and armour plus typical observatory instruments. In the underground, the surprise: the two floors further down full with treasures of all kinds, from coins to metal bars, from jewels to barrels with precious stones. The first floor under the ground was a storehouse for food of all kinds, kept fresh by sets of runes to ward against the passage of time and decay.

"If we complete stockpiles of groceries and other commodities, fifty people can live in each tower for half a year before they have to search for more supplies. And with all that accumulated treasure, it would not be difficult to endure a few centuries..."Astoria said in awe.

"Strange all this treasure out of Gringotts. Imagine how much it would collect in interests!" said Daphne. "There must be a good reason why your family did not trust the goblins, I wonder what said reason was."

"That'll have to wait for later. I need to go to Gringotts now," Harry commented. "But first... Dobby!"

"Great master Harry Potter sir called?" asked the elf after appearing with a resounding 'pop'. "Wow, where are we, Master Harry Potter sir? The protections here are very strong!"

"They better be, Dobby. This island will be our refuge if Voldemort comes back to haunt us. Dobby, now that you've been here for the first time, will you be able to return when necessary, even if we're not here?"

"Yes, master, Dobby can now come here when necessary," the elf replied as he looked from side to side, assessing the place. "Master wants Dobby to arrange cleaning and repair of the whole place, master? Dobby would be immensely happy to be able to take care of everything, master!"

"Isn't it too much work for you, Dobby?" asked Harry, worried about the size of the task the little elf wanted to take on.

"But Dobby does not have to do it all alone, master! Hogwarts is on vacation, and elves there be bored by the lack of work!"

"Dobby, I appreciate your idea, but we would like to keep this island a secret," Daphne interjected, worried that the secret would soon be lost.

"Oh, but no problem, mistress friend to master Harry Potter. Dobby will only let the house-elves who promise to keep the secrets of Master Harry Potter to work here!"

"Then it's settled, Dobby," Harry replied. "You can bring your friends to help here, in your spare time. We want to leave the island ready in case Voldemort comes back, but there is not much urgency for now, okay? Your priority continues to be to answer our calls, right?"

"Oh, yes, great master Harry Potter! Dobby will take care of everything, especially any calls of the great master and his great companions!" replied the elf, hugging one of the boy's legs in gratitude.

-o0o-

The three returned to the Greengrass mansion by Harry's portkey, which always returned to the starting point of any visit to the island, and the boy then departed to Gringotts by floo, leaving the Greengrass sisters examining the pile of scrolls and notebooks that Dobby had brought from the bank so far.

Harry's encounter with the globin Ironclaw was long, tedious and difficult, and it took a lot of patience and a lot of apologies from the little Potter. Yes, people told the boy that he was famous in the magical world, but not that a vault filled with correspondence and gifts sent from all over the world awaited his attention in Gringotts!

'Could the group of girls help process and answer all that?' he thought, intent on finding a solution. 'Or maybe the Hogwarts elves? Better talk to Daphne and Astoria first.'


	5. 05 Good News and Bad News

**A/N:** My thanks to TheGreatBubbaJ for beta-reading and correction of this chapter. This story suffered a long delay in updates so that it could be totally revised. Now that the revision is completed, I hope to update it every other week.

 **Chapter 5 – Good News and Bad News**

Harry returned to the Greengrass mansion to find two very excited sisters. They talked so much, so fast and at the same time that the boy could only understand that the subject was related to his mother and some research she had done.

It took a few minutes to get the two to slow down to understandable speed, but once they had calmed down Harry finally began to form a clearer picture of the situation.

"So my mother was really as bright as they said ..." he commented, to be immediately corrected by Astoria.

"Much more than they said, Potter. Apparently, most of the ideas she's had she's never mentioned to others. She had a lot of these ideas while still attending Hogwarts, but she did not have time to go ahead with them because of her studies and exams. After her marriage, with your father spending most of the day away from home studying to become an Auror, she set up her own laboratory and finally began to investigate all the ideas she had."

"There was no field of magic that she left out ..." Daphne interrupted. "She studied them all and in each of them she had at least one original and amazing idea about how to make things better. It's all here in these notebooks. They are a mixture of personal diary, notes of magical experiments, daydreams about possible advances ..."

"Seeing everything she did in such a short time, and shortly after leaving Hogwarts... it's amazing!" Astoria commented. "Her death so young may have been the greatest catastrophe in the wizarding world for many, many years!"

"Harry," said Daphne, startling the boy who was for the first time hearing one of the sisters using his first name, "What we have here is an invaluable treasure, sufficient to keep a team of wizards and witches busy for decades! The advances that can result from finishing her research is something that can revolutionize the magical world forever! That... we cannot... it's our duty ... a real treasure ... unbelievable ... may be the key to beating Voldemort ... the discoveries ..."

"Daphne, calm down!" Harry asked, putting his hands on the girl's shoulders and pulling her gently into a hug. "You want to ask me something, but you're afraid, are you not?"

"You're starting to understand me too well, Mr Potter!" replied the girl, smirking. "But yes, it's about the group ..."

"Deal! Just work on that oath so we do not take any chances of being betrayed," Harry replied promptly.

"That easy?" replied Daphne in surprise. "After all the time I've spent thinking of arguments to help convince you?"

"I bet those same arguments can be used to convince the girls in the group," said the boy, smiling. "They will not go to waste."

"Potter, do you think we can visit Godric's Hollow in the next few days?" Astoria asked. "Your mother's last notebook is all about the prophecy and her efforts to help you survive ..."

"What prophecy?" asked Harry in surprise.

"You do not know about the prophecy?" Astoria asked, surprised that no one had told the boy about something so important. "Oh, I want to strangle Dumbledore with his beard, and stick what's left of it..."

"ASTORIA!" interrupted Daphne. "Fine, do whatever you want against Dumbledore, he deserves it. Just spare me the picture!"

Astoria did not care about Daphne's scolding, just took Lily's last notebook and handed it to Harry, opened on the page where the prophecy was set forth, followed by Lily's interpretation and what she thought was Dumbledore's interpretation. Lily suspected that the old headmaster of Hogwarts did not expect any of the Potters to survive, but that the death of her little son would somehow also lead to Voldemort's death. Her interpretation was far more optimistic, but she did not stop at that at all. Lily loved her little Harry too much to put everything in the hands of fate, and she used all her intelligence and creativity to find ways to ensure her baby's survival.

The plans of the three teens were interrupted by the arrival of the mediwitch with the specialist. As they were until recently discussing magical oaths, one glance from Daphne was sufficient for Harry to grasp the girl's intent and to ask the expert, whom Mrs Mitchell presented as a unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries of the magical government, a double oath: all that he finding out about Harry's scar would be communicated to the other four presents and nothing would be discussed with others without Harry's permission. Apparently the unspeakable had already had an idea of what happened to Harry's scar, and forced the situation until the children agreed to soften the second clause of the oath, so the unspeakable would be free to discuss the matter with his co-workers, provided that they also submitted to the condition of secrecy. He also tried to downplay the first clause, but at this point the children were irreducible, and the unspeakable was forced to accept the condition or give up the opportunity.

Soon the teens realized how important it had been to insist on those precautions. Harry's scar was more than a 'little hassle' and 'sad reminder' of a tragic night: it was the vilest form of black magic and one of the reasons Tom Riddle was still on this plane of existence. They were now certain that without this double oath they would be kept out of this important secret, with Harry once again deprived of information about his own situation 'for his own good.'

As a sign of goodwill for the help of the unspeakable Harry even mentioned the existence of the prophecy, but the serious and shady unspeakable already knew about it, though he was astonished that they knew of the existence of the prophecy. At that point Harry decided to use his Slytherin side and omit the existence of his mother's notebooks. The sisters had made it very clear how many interesting lines of research his mother had explored, and he wanted to follow that research himself rather than end up having to hand it all over to the Department of Mysteries.

Unfortunately, Harry's case had to be atypical. Again, the boy's fortune in standing out from the ordinary put him in a unique position: he was the first known case of a horcrux stored in a living being, if indeed he was a horcrux, since, although present, the fragment of Voldemort's soul was not properly attached to his body. This small detail, that Harry had turned into a horcrux by chance, without proper preparation and ritual, brought some optimism to the group, since it could make it easier to remove that strange fragment without the need to cause damage to the boy.

When the two adults finally retired, the unspeakable promised to keep them informed of the results of their research into extracting Voldemort's fragment from Harry and hunting other horcruxes that Voldemort had created, and Ms Mitchell after prescribing a regimen of potions and exercises to improve Harry's health. In the wake of the green flames fading from the floo, the three teens, after the exhausting day, ended up sleeping right there in the living room, hugging each other in support after the serious news.

-o0o-

Harry woke up the next morning still holding the two sisters, happy with the support they gave him (and with physical contact, though he was trying not to think about it at the moment, without much success).

After a strenuous day like the previous one, he thought they well-deserved some rest, and made some plans about spending a day in the muggle world, showing the girls how much entertainment they did not yet known to exist. Not wanting to wake them up so early, he avoided shifting positions and called for Dobby to help with the preparations.

When the sisters finally awakened Datty, the Greengrass' house-elf, had breakfast ready for them, and Dobby had done his job of finding out the location and opening hours of some attractions that Harry wanted to introduce the girls to. Astoria's excitement at Harry's idea was essential to convince the quiet Daphne, who was interested in starting the study of Lily's manuscripts. In the end, she finally agreed that a day of waiting would not be so bad. It would also give her time to invite her group to participate in said studies.

As Harry and Astoria scoured the girls' wardrobes in search of the most suitable pieces for a modest walk in the Muggle world, Daphne wrote and made several copies of an invitation to the other girls of her group at Hogwarts to gather at the Greengrass mansion the next day. Datty, Hedwig and Sharp, the Greengrass' family owl, were soon leaving, and Daphne put on the summer dress and low sandals the other two had chosen for her, not caring about their presence in her room. Astoria was still too excited, and kept trying to hurry her sister, who seemed to be delaying their departure deliberately to annoy Astoria. Actually, Daphne was also enjoying the attention Harry paid to her every move, and the intense look in his eyes as he admired every curve of her body.

At last Dobby took the three of them to the first point chosen by Harry: Hyde Park of London. As the first activity there, Harry rented a pedal boat for a cruise along the lake. His idea was to introduce the girls to the concept of using their legs to move the boat through the pedal and chain, which would make it easier for them to understand the mechanics behind the second activity he had planned: teaching the Greengrass sisters to ride a bicycle. The three of them had so much fun that Harry asked Dobby to buy and take a bike for each and a pedal boat to the Greengrass mansion to use together, while the three had a brief rest at the Serpentine Bar on the lakeshore.

Harry, in his naiveté, had the foolish idea to suggest that they visit a Shopping Centre to see some of the products that non-magicians had at their disposal. His intention was only to stay there for one, at most two hours, before moving on to other points. When Harry finally convinced the two sisters that it was time to leave, Dobby had already made four trips with bags upon bags to the mansion, and the first stars were already visible in the sky. Fortunately, the girls' curiosity also extended to the cooking in the food court, or in addition to being tired Harry would also be hungry at that time.

Arriving back at the mansion, there was no doubt about what activity would be for that night. The living room furniture was hidden under a sea of bags and boxes. Not only was there an impressive amount, but the bags were also extremely varied in their contents. Books for a complete library, a chemistry lab kit for beginners, an impressive reflector telescope with a magnification of 2,100 times, a microscope with magnification of 1,200 times, several board games, a game of darts, a shotgun of compressed air, pocketknives an inflatable boat with a hand pump and two oars, a tool case, a precision Swiss chronometer, two sets, one micrometre, two precision mechanical balances, two bodybuilding stations and, of course, a lot of costume jewellery and makeup. And the reason the list was not much, much bigger was because they still needed to figure out a way to use electronic equipment in magical environments.

When the last bought pieces were stored in the upper part of Daphne's wardrobe, it was already late, and poor Astoria was already asleep in her sister's bed.

"What do you think about sleeping together here tonight, Potter?" Daphne asked Harry. "It's going to be better than the living room floor, that's for sure. And we avoid having to carry that one there to her room."

Harry had neither the will nor the conditions to protest. And protest what, really?

-o0o-

The next morning a somewhat reluctant, somewhat exuberant Astoria was starting in some games that Daphne and Harry had been practicing alone in their 'lessons'. Like every girl, Tori longed to start feeling like a woman, not just a little girl. But just like every girl who has not yet completed the transformation, she had many insecurities about herself and her body, which her two partners tried to soften as much as they could. Unfortunately, the fun play was interrupted by the floo visits' alarm.

"Oh, for Morgana! The girls are coming!" exclaimed Daphne, surprised by the time. As always, time flies when you're having fun. With a "Get down as soon as you can, you two!" over her shoulder, the Greengrass heiress dressed quickly and came down to greet the first of her guests.

Harry looked up from his position between Astoria's legs, idly licking his lips, to see the dismayed expression of the younger sister. Not at all pleased with the interruption, and still excited by the situation she was in and the attention she was receiving, Astoria aimed her pout down to the glistening face between her legs. Seeing such an adorable expression and figuring not fixing it would leave a bad taste in his mouth (rather than the pleasant one currently in it), Harry decided that a few more minutes would not make much of a difference so returned to his sweet work.

-o0o-

"Hey, you sluggards, where have you been so far? Come, we have a lot of work to do!" Daphne received the little couple as they entered the dining room, where they found her at the table full of scrolls and surrounded by other girls.

The giggles that their arrival caused in the girls made Harry suspicious that the 'lessons' he had been having with Daphne, and now Astoria, were no longer a secret. The hugs he received from each girl as he was presented, that were a little longer and intimate than usual, only reinforced his suspicion and stirred his excitement.

Susan Bones was there, with her inseparable friend Hannah Abbott. Of Slytherin were Tracy Davis and Lilith Moon, the same year as Harry, the twins Flora and Hestia Carrow, a year down, Maebh O'Brian, a sixth-year Welsh, and Beatrice Montgomery, Astoria's dorm mate. From Ravenclaw were Lisa Turpin, Mandy Brocklehurst and Morag McDougal in his year, and Luna Lovegood, whom Harry surprised by greeting him with a happy cheer before she hopped into his arms and clung to him like a limpet.

Still embracing Luna, Harry couldn't help commenting: "You mean all that rivalry between the houses is only between Gryffindor and Slytherin?"

As if on purpose to make the boy swallow his words, Katie Bell, Fay Dunbar and Victoria Frobisher, three Gryffindors, entered carrying books, along with Su Li and Orla Quirke of Ravenclaw, Trisha Buttermere of Hufflepuff, and Bridget Carlson and Rachel Pucey of Slytherin.

"You were saying, Potter?" asked Daphne mockingly.

"Ah, well ... I can take care of something out there while you girls... uh... continue..." he said trying to get out of the way, worried about being the only boy among so many girls, and with the memories and taste of his earlier lesson still fresh, but was prevented by Astoria and Luna.

"Oh, no sir, you're going to sit here with us and help. After all, all this paperwork is yours!" Astoria declared with determination.

"Harry, what a shame! You were almost free of the Nargles, you're not going to let them come back right now, are you?" Luna commented as she forced the boy to greet the newcomers before sitting him in the chair she'd just vacated.

"Luna, this was your chair..." Harry commented, trying to get up and return the seat.

"Still is," commented the girl sitting on his lap and preventing his leaving. "Just that it's upholstered now! Much more comfortable!" she added, shifting around to find a more comfortable position and making things much harder on Harry.

The poor kid was as red as a tomato, and changed the subject quickly, asking about their progress with the paperwork.


	6. 06 The Great Fusion

**A/N:** Reposted. Now corrected by TheGreatBubbaJ. My thanks for his help with these chapters and my wishes of luck and happiness in the new stage of his life.

 **CHAPTER 6 – THE GREAT FUSION**

After the laughter at the embarrassed boy's expense, the group was finally in a position to start working seriously. Daphne was in charge of introducing to the new girls a reduced version of Harry's history and reporting that Voldemort was still a danger, while Harry handled his correspondence, with the help of Astoria and Luna. The first batch he received through Gringotts, after a redirection of their correspondence to the bank to ensure its security and privacy.

To his surprise the first letter he opened was from a small five-year-old fan, Abigail Cresswell. She had sent a drawing of her family along with her hero Harry Potter. The illustration was simple but capricious, and it was in good proportion, except for Harry himself, who proportionately appeared to be as tall as Hagrid.

"On the one hand it's worrying to see how much they expect of me, but on the other hand, someone who has never seen me offering their friendship without restrictions ..." commented the boy, excited.

"This is the first letter you have received from an admirer, is not it?" asked Astoria, receiving a positive nod from Harry. "And it is only now, after you have asked the goblins to take care of your mail. You know what that means, do not you?"

Harry looked at his friend with tears in his eyes. "Another form of manipulation in my life that Dumbledore used against me: depriving me of my correspondence. I understand why he did it at first, while I was out of the magical world. But to continue with his interference until today is inexcusable!"

Luna, still sitting on the boy's lap, noticed all the tension he was passing and handed him the next letter from the pile, trying to get him out of that state. Unfortunately, the next letter was exactly from the old mage causing said state, and by no way pleasant. Dumbledore's letter was a mixture of veiled threats and petty emotional blackmail for the purpose of persuading the boy to immediately return to his uncle's home and behave with discretion, leaving more serious matters to the adults. He treated Harry as a spoiled child in need of discipline, and the letter did not survive the reading. Harry had been so angry with what was written that it had ignited spontaneously with his anger.

"Who does he think he is?" Astoria reacted immediately. "He does not know where you are, who you are with, or even how you are, and yet right away says that you are in danger and demands that you return to those repulsive relatives immediately! Honestly, treating you like a little child! He is not your magical guardian, is he?"

"Irowclaw told me that, for all intents and purposes, at least as far as the Bank is concerned, my magical guardian is Sirius Black. Dumbledore tried to register documents with them, taking over my guardianship, but the goblins rejected it, saying there was no cause to remove Sirius from the role. They know that my godfather was not tried, and therefore, without a document signed by Sirius himself giving up his rights, they refuse any change," Harry replied.

"Dumbledore may have gotten documentation from Wizengamot passing your guard over to him," Luna commented. "Even if Gringotts does not accept the change, the Ministry probably recognise Dumbledore as your guardian, which gives him some power."

"The goblins noted here that there were tracking spells in the letter. Astoria? Could he ..." Harry began, but his little hostess calmed the boy's concerns quickly.

"Do not worry, Harry. If there were any tracking spells on you or your stuff, it was disabled as soon as you entered the property. And not even a seer can discover your whereabouts while you stay here. We have the best protections money can buy!"

The two girls realized how worried the boy was, and exchanged a knowing look, realizing that he was more concerned about their safety than his own. It was moving for them to find such a selfless boy.

The next letter was from Hermione, and pleasantly surprised Astoria. Dumbledore had contacted the Gryffindor girl asking for news of Harry, leaving the girl terribly concerned about her friend. Even worried as she was, had avoided demanding Harry's immediate return, and only asked if he was well and needed some help.

"Weird! I thought she would demand to know where you are and what you are doing," said Astoria.

"I suppose Hermione must be thinking a lot lately, reviewing her positions and her views of the magical world," said Luna, with a thoughtful and distant look. "I think it was very important that you invited more people to your compartment on the Express trip, Harry. Knowing that you are expanding your circle of friends apparently had a positive effect on her. She must be worried about maintaining her friendship, and she must be re-evaluating her way of acting..."

"It's possible," Harry commented. "She has always paid close attention to the opinion of adults, especially those in positions of authority. Perhaps, with my godfather's case, she has noticed that these figures are as subject to error and evil as any other. And she'd have asked for more information before making any conclusions and coming out saying what I should do... Wow! It's exactly the growth that was missing for her!"

"Let's not miss this opportunity by making her wait," Astoria said, handing parchment and quill to Harry. "Write a succinct answer and send your owl to her before she changes her mind."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, obeying promptly. Harry responded as best as he could, assuring his friend that he was totally safe and, for the first time in a summer, happy. He told her that he had news to share with her, and that he would try to arrange a meeting after she returned from her trip across the Continent.

The next letter was from Sirius, and made Harry rather worried by the degree to which his godfather had been influenced by a letter from Dumbledore. The Marauder showed his concern for the disappearance of his godson and asked that he be careful and follows the directions of the headmaster. He also said that Dumbledore had advised him to go away and remain hidden until the old wizard could do something for him.

Harry answered his godfather with a very hard letter, criticizing his decision to obey Dumbledore. An excerpt from it said:

 _If you trust Dumbledore so much, why did not you write to him telling your whole story as soon as you left Azkaban? It would have spared all Hogwarts students a difficult year with the company of those murderous dementors! But what did Dumbledore do for you? As chief of the Wizengamot he must have fought for law enforcement and arranged your trial shortly after your arrest, but he did not! After Hermione and I told your story to him, what did he do to cancel the immediate execution order against you? Is he really the man you want to trust with your life? Someone who gives a bastard like Snape a second, third and fourth chance, but does not raise a finger to hear your side of the story and give you at least a chance to explain yourself?_

 _One week! If you really want a way to apologize for the years you've spent away from me and want a chance to again be free and rebuild your life in touch with mine, I beg you to grant me this: a week! Stay here for a week, and be ready to receive the trial you have not had so far. Do not say anything to anyone, especially Dumbledore! Trust me, and everything will be cleared up soon. Otherwise, and be aware I'm serious, Sirius, it will be goodbye! Please, Sirius, help me to help you!_

-o0o-

After the reply to Sirius was sent, Luna stood up and directed Astoria into Harry's lap, before joining the larger group, which was now working on an oath to be performed by all who wanted to participate in the new research and in the fight against Voldemort.

Astoria had been worried about Sirius' willingness to obey Dumbledore and surrender his own judgment and the chance to be free again. She needed Harry's godfather to take custody of the boy so her plan could continue. She knew that Dumbledore would never sign the contract between Harry and her. Harry tried to calm her down as best as he could. Weeping girls left the poor boy in a difficult situation, but he was slowly progressing and had even worked out a theory about the role of crying for women: it was their way of dealing with strong emotions. A boy, in the same situation, would get angry and probably would quarrel with someone or break things out to release the tension. The girls deal with it crying until they were exhausted, then they calmed down, and then calmly returned to the subject with a refreshed head. The crying phase was still strange in the boy's eyes, but the results they got seemed better at the end, less destructive and less permanent than a friendship ruined by a punch severed in a moment of fury.

-o0o-

The girls' group already had a standard oath prepared for the acceptance of male members. Harry would be the fourth to be admitted into one of the three groups in the current century. This same oath served as the basis for the creation of another, to protect Harry's secrets and the discoveries of his mother.

The girls were excited by Daphne's tales of Lily's advances, terrified by the possibility of Voldemort's return, desirous of a safe haven on a secret island and inflamed by the feeling that they were about to embark on an adventure that could make history and defining the future of the magical world for centuries on end. With all these feeling fuelling them, they created, and performed, a much more serious and powerful oath than would be wise in the eyes of more experienced wizards and witches.

As soon as everyone, including Harry, took that oath, the first symptoms of how far they had gone began to express themselves, though at first, in a somewhat subtle way.

Harry retold his story, now in much more detail, and used a pensieve found by Dobby in his family vault to illustrate the main moments of the narrative: the encounter with the spectre of Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, the confrontation with Quirrell and the mirror and the episode with the young Riddle and the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Finally, Harry recounted the recent discovery of the Horcruxes, including the one in his scar. Daphne and Astoria had told the boy that he could leave it as a secret, but the group's readiness to help and take the oath of secrecy and fidelity made Harry feel it was his duty to reveal everything. He was tired of discovering how many secrets people had been hiding from him, and by no means would he have acted in the same way with the people who so readily arranged to help him.

When Harry finished his story Daphne asked for sandwiches and juices, and they began to discuss what to do to prepare for Voldemort's return. It soon became clear that the group had little confidence in adults, or at least in most of them. They would try to warn them of the danger, but they did not give much hope that this initiative would bear fruit, so they intend to not expose themselves too much with this warning.

The secret island of the Potters and Harry's willingness to secure refuge for the whole group was welcome news. Soon the girls were making plans and sharing chores. Since they were still too few people for the amount of work they saw ahead, everyone would collaborate wherever they could, but a 'boss' was assigned to each branch of activity.

Lilith Moon, whose father was a wholesaler of magical products, was in charge of preparing for the island food, clothing, and utensils. In addition to these domestic products, she would secure weapons, tools and building materials, so that a large number of people could live there with no issues. For now, Harry would have to finance these purchases himself.

Maebh O'Brian was a prodigy girl in Runes. She was in charge of studying magical protections both to reinforce the island's defences and the residences of the group's members.

Susan Bones, the DMLE head's niece, had great knowledge of magical laws and traditions and access to some Ministry resources and some important contacts. She volunteered, and was accepted, as in charge of analysing the legal aspects of the actions that the group would carry out and trying to convince her aunt and some of her allies of the danger that surrounded the magical world.

Luna Lovegood, whose father was editor and owner of The Quibbler, was in charge of the relationship with the press and, at her request, also of the relationships with the other magical creatures, since she had great knowledge in this area.

Mandy Brocklehurst, whose father was a Business and Finance consultant and had been educating his daughter in these activities, was in charge of the group's finances and helping Harry put his family's business in order. She immediately began her activities on leave to negotiate the basilisk's carcass on Harry's behalf, for which she requested Luna's help in dealing with the Gringotts goblins.

Bridget Carlson, who was about to start her senior year at Hogwarts and already had her license to apparate, asked to head the subjects of Transportation and Locomotion. She set out immediately to begin the training of everyone in apparition, to learn how to make a portkey and then teach the others, and to find a way to create an alternative floo network without control (or interference) of the magical government. By a strange coincidence (not to say corruption) the floo network had a bad habit of being unavailable whenever the Death Eaters made an attack during Voldemort's first appearance.

Trisha Buttermere had already been receiving some instruction from Madam Pomfrey, and intended to become a healer after Hogwarts. She was in charge of health issues. She would start by writing a list of potions to keep in stock for emergencies and a list of simple basic emergency care techniques that she would use to train everyone who was interested in learning.

To Harry's astonishment, he was put in charge of Offensive and Defensive Magic. If his marks on Defence were already good, seeing him in action at the Pensieve convinced all the girls that he was the right choice for the job. Several of the older girls volunteered to help him with the study of the more advanced material.

Daphne knew quite well what she wanted, and quickly explaining what she had discovered about Lily Potter's notebooks, she created a Research department and placed herself as its head. She immediately asked the girls in the senior years to help her list what was important in each year's curriculum regarding their needs to meet with Voldemort's return. The news about the notebooks had been of great interest to all the girls, and soon she had volunteers to assist in all branches of magical knowledge.

Hannah Abbott was one of the most popular girls at Hogwarts and was put in charge of recruiting allies. Her first mission would be to try to get the members of the two other female groups of Hogwarts in.

Lisa Turpin loved to study History of Magic, though she detested Binns as much as the others. For her, the information department was set up to deal with the historical examination of the conflicts against Grindelwald and Voldemort in order to identify possible sympathizers of them who were still at large in today's magical society. She would also study the tactics employed by each of the groups involved, and try to outline strategies to prevent these tactics from working again.

"Wow, it looks like we're creating a new government!" Astoria remarked, delighted at the conspiracy's size and complexity. "Something is missing?"

"For now I do not think so," Katie commented, "But as soon as we feel the need, we can create other 'departments'."

"Maybe one for communications, espionage, and counter-espionage ..." suggested Morag, who was fond of muggle police novels.

"Potter ... Harry" timidly called one of the Carrows.

"Yes? Any other ideas?" he replied.

"My sister and I would like to become the first settlers on your island, if you will allow us," she said embarrassed, much to the astonishment of the boy.

"Nothing against it, but the accommodations are not in good conditions at the moment," he replied carefully. Ever since he had introduced himself to the twins, Harry had realized there was something different there, some secret he still did not know. "Any special motive?" he asked, trying to give them a chance for the secret to surface naturally, but also giving them a chance to avoid responding if they wanted to.

The two sisters exchanged a long look until, finally, looking at the floor and showing all the stress they were under, the same one who had asked the question told Harry their real situation.

"Our parents are Death Eaters. They never ceased to be. As soon as Voldemort returns, they will run to his side, ready to resume their positions. Even worse, they are siblings. They have been in this incestuous relationship since they reached puberty..."

At that point the twins were crying copiously. In an instant Harry stepped out of his chair and was standing in front of them, one hand on each shoulder, trying to comfort them. He had moved so fast it seemed to have been apparition!

"You have my permission to make the island your home, and stay as long as you wish..." he said to their relief. "Just... What about Hogwarts? They could get you out of there, right? Will you have to hide forever?"

They pulled the boy closer, each using his shoulder to cry. This time it was the other twin, Flora, who answered.

"They know we do not share their convictions. They are disappointed with us, and they no longer care about what we do. Luckily our grandfather paid for our education in advance, or we would not have even gone to Hogwarts. We are spending a few days at the homes of our friends. They know of our condition and help us, but some parents are not very supportive of their friendship with us."

"Our parents will be content if we stay away so long as they do not know that we are working against their master," Hestia said. "Having a fixed place to live out of Hogwarts would make us feel much safer."

"Then it's settled!" said Daphne. "You stay here with us until the island has minimal housing conditions. Our parents will only return next month. At that time the island, or at least a part of it, will be in good condition, and you move there with Harry, and help him inventory what there are there and improve the conditions of the place."

Despite all his recent training Harry turned red when the two now happy twins embraced him with even more strength and determination. As he tried to recover, Flora looked at her sister, saying only: "The complete library!"

"Wait a minute," Hestia asked her sister. Turning to the others, she explained, "There is something you need to know. Something bad should happen soon after the Quidditch Cup final. Lucius Malfoy was at our house last night. He's getting in touch with the Death Eaters who escaped from prison, and he's planning some sort of action as soon as the game is over, to 'remind the wizarding world.' We do not know what they intend to do, but it will be something on the game site right after its end, and it will probably be some kind of attack to cause panic in the crowd and try to revive everyone's fear of the Dark Lord."

"It would be great if we could seize this meeting and eliminate them all!" said Susan, much to the amazement of many of her friends.

"Susan! How can you think about it!" said Hannah.

"I ... I would not dare participate in an attack, I think," the redhead confided. "But think about it a little. As soon as Voldemort comes back, the first thing he's going to do is gather those Death Eaters that have escaped from prison. And the second will be to use them to free those who are trapped in Azkaban. Without them, he will be practically alone, making it difficult to attack Azkaban and delaying his plans much..."

"We could all take them by surprise," Hestia commented. "They expect no reaction from the public beyond panic, and little resistance from the Aurors, who will not be able to fight back with the necessary force for fear of hurting the public. There will be a lot of people from other countries in the final. It could cause an international incident if the number of victims is high."

"If the Death Eaters avoid spilling magical blood, the Aurors will have no excuse to escalate the conflict. The Death Eaters will create panic and then leave without facing resistance" said Astoria.

"Yes, but why create such a panic?" Harry asked confused.

"A very clear message: give us space or suffer the consequences," Susan replied, thinking of the political consequences of such an act. "You can bet that, after this event, several laws will be proposed in the Wizengamot to further increase the purists' privileges, and they may end up being approved for fear of retaliation against those who try to bar them."

"So we have to stop them somehow," Harry replied determinedly. "We have time to prepare ourselves and create a good plan of action. I will do something, even if no one else wants to participate."

"Count on us," Hestia answered immediately.

"But... your parents? They'll be there!" Tracy gasped.

"And I'll be glad to see them die," Hestia said, looking coldly at her friend. Even Harry, still naive with this kind of subject, immediately realized that the twins' lives had been much more difficult than what he had discovered so far indicated.

"Okay, a few rules," Harry amended, trying to ease the tension a bit. "Only volunteers will participate in this mission. Only volunteer if you are sure that you will not regret it later and will not panic during. No one who participates will speak evil of those who refuse, nor those who refuse can argue against those who participate. Do you agree?"

Daphne grinned at her sister. She had been uncertain about Astoria's choice and feared that Harry was more fame than real power. To her happiness, there was proof that the Boy-Who-Lived was not only a real hero, as his deeds at Hogwarts had already proved, but also a born leader, who led by example rather than by arrogant orders from behind the lines.

There was some discussion, but even the most peaceful among them became convinced that a war was to come, and that inevitably some suffering, and deaths would eventually occur. Restricting said suffering and death to the enemy side when possible seemed to be the only way to maximize the chances of the group escaping with a minimum of casualties, no matter how difficult it was to tread that path. The certainty that they would not be forced to act against their own nature, and that they could leave violent action to those more able to execute them, ended the discussion.

"Harry?"

Throughout the discussion Harry had been very close to the Carrows. Now Flora had turned to him, and rested her left hand on his right pectoral muscle. Harry immediately put the lessons from Daphne into practice, and analysed the situation. The girl was shy and quiet by nature, and was not totally comfortable with that contact. The boy guessed that she was about to ask him for something that was of great importance to her, and she was doing her best to garner some sympathy, or at least prevent him from denying her request abruptly. Nodding for her to go on, Harry gave her his full attention.

"Do you already know the Potters' Family Magic?" she asked.

"The island!" exclaimed Daphne, approaching them. "You want to use the island for your Complete Library project!"

Meanwhile, Harry simply asked, "What is Family Magic?"

"Aff! It's a crime how little they taught you about the magical world," Daphne protested once again at another demonstration of how they had kept the heir of one of Europe's oldest magical families in complete ignorance.

"The magic we learned at Hogwarts is only a small fraction of the known magic," Flora explained. "It is the part of magic that is open to the knowledge of all wizards and witches, regardless of their origin. Most of the magic known, however, is divided among the families, and kept secret by each one, being passed on only to the members of the family."

"It's another point where the selfishness and competitiveness of males of the species comes on the scene to deprive most of a huge good, to keep that power in the hands of a few!" Daphne added.

"Do you mean that every family that invents or possesses some rare magical knowledge, instead of sharing with others, hides it for their exclusive use?" the sole male in the roo summed up what he had understood from the conversation.

"Exactly!" confirmed Daphne. "In this way, each family keeps a monopoly over a part of the magical knowledge that they then use to obtain power or money."

"Some household heads even limit their own family's access to this knowledge," explained Flora.

"Especially the women in the family, I would guess," Harry suggested.

"Exactly the women of the family, because they will marry and become part of another family," confirmed Daphne again.

"And would you like to have access to the Potters' family magic?" Harry asked Flora. By his nature the boy was predisposed to share, but he was afraid of the consequences of that benevolence over the future of his family.

"The same oath we made for the group and for you will prevent us from sharing the secrets with any outsiders, Harry," Flora explained, speaking quickly as if she were afraid that Harry would close to the idea before she could expose all her arguments. "By an oversight of our grandfather, Hestia and I have unlimited access to the family magic of the Carrows and the Borgins, including the leave to pass it on to others. We just did not use this access yet because we would have no place to keep a copy safe, since the originals cannot be removed from the family mansion."

"Anyone else among you have unrestricted access to family magic?" Harry asked generally to the group, who had gathered around them because of their interest in the subject.

"I have!" said Luna suddenly.

"My aunt promised me full access once I'm fifteen," Susan said. "It will only happen in a little more than half a year."

"This is another exception to the rule, quite unusual and just because Susan's aunt is the current ruler of the family and sees no problems in women gaining access to this knowledge," explained Daphne. "Daddy would never give such autonomy to me or Astoria."

"Maybe I can persuade my great-uncle," said Morag, "but that's because we do not have much to hide."

Other girls were in the same situation as Morag. They might not have success in accessing this knowledge now, but Voldemort's return and the oath of not opening these secrets indiscriminately could greatly facilitate such openness in the future. The simple fact that these girls were willing to discuss an old tradition with their heads of family encouraged the boy, showing the degree of involvement that was already achieved among the members of that group.

"This silly machismo condemns you girls to know less than boys, no matter how hard you try to learn!" said Harry indignantly.

"There is something that alleviates the situation a little, Potter," confided Daphne. "Some women, aware of this situation, have donated the fruits of their discoveries to one or more of the three female groups at Hogwarts, rather than or in addition to incorporating their findings into the magic of their families. Luna's mother, for example, was a particularly prolific collaborator."

Harry smiled at his blonde friend, who was glowing with Daphne's compliment to her mother, before addressing them all.

"I see no problem in sharing anything I have, except what I am forced to keep as a family secret by force majeure, with none of you, to the extent that you are willing to share all that you can with me and each other."

Happy at the boy's disposition, some of the girls were soon planning to build a more advanced and complete library than any other known, while others began to outline the goals of the different 'departments' they created. But little by little the small groups have been joining up and initiating personal confession sessions to a level of intimacy that a girl only ever shows to her best friend and confidant.

Progressively the group was grasping the real extent of what expressions such as 'having no secrets for the group' and 'sharing all they can', used in the oath they did, really embraced. In turn, each one felt in her own skin the urgency of opening up with others about their dreams, fears and most protected secrets. It escaped the understanding of this group, due to excitement, a lesson learned at hard cost by previous generations: magic oaths were severely reinforced by the very magic of the participants, forcing the parties to fulfil their obligations with extreme rigor.

For three consecutive days lame excuses were given to apprehensive parents about why their daughters did not return home as promised. Cry and laughter alternated continually, while each in turn made their confessions and opened their souls to their companions, forced by their oaths.

Meanwhile, each one's magic, heavily involved in the oath, did what it could to unite the group further, creating a strong telepathic bond between them. Usually magic oaths were made by a single person to another single person. Here, in this case, twenty-three people gathered in a single oath involving all alike, creating the strongest magical connection in many centuries. Not even the formation of the Round Table had gathered so many people, and not even the creation of the Magic Council, precursor of the current Wizengamot, had united so many people so intimately.

Conversations required less and less words being spoken explicitly. It was enough that an idea popped into one's mind so that this one would immediately know what each other had for or against the idea. The knowledge of each one gradually became the knowledge of all; no matter how advanced it was only a few hours ago to the younger ones. Soon, in a matter of minutes they were able to accomplish what it would have taken days of discussion to achieve before.

For all members of that group these days would forever be known as the "Great Fusion" and would be the most encompassing, emotional, full and stressful experience of their lives, but also the most important and most humbling. And all because that group had decided that cooperating was more important than competing; sharing was more important than owning; and worrying about the happiness of others was as rewarding as pursuing their own happiness.


	7. 07 Sirius' Trial

**A/N :** Chapter reposted. My thanks to Haphne24 for the help correcting it.

 **CHAPTER 7 – SIRIUS' TRIAL**

The group stayed the next few days gathered at the Greengrass mansion as there were a lot to do. Accounts of life and intimate confessions alternated with esoteric surveys of advanced magic and planning meetings to strategize against all sorts of scenarios that Voldemort might cause.

On Susan's recommendation, Harry hired a renowned lawyer to defend Sirius at the trial. Malcolm Boot, Terry's father, one of Ravenclaw's boys the same year as Harry, came to the mansion after giving Susan a standard oath of confidentiality. Harry presented his most important memoirs to the case in his Pensieve, convincing Malcolm of his godfather's innocence.

-o0o-

The Carrow sisters were impressed by Harry's Island and had been guiding Dobby and several Hogwarts elves to execute the repairs needed to make the place habitable quickly.

The analysis of Lily's findings and ideas was also advancing rapidly, and they already had several useful results. One of them was the method to bewitch two mirrors so that each one served as transmitter and receiver of image and sound to the other, allowing totally safe instantaneous communication. Another fantastic discovery was a way to protect electronic equipment from the influence of magic by means of a thin layer of crystal over the circuitry, enough to prevent the magic from reaching the delicate components. But not all of Lily's ideas were so forthright and specific. She had also invented new concepts capable of creating entirely new areas of magic.

One of these great ideas was compound spells. The vast majority of spells were as simple as possible, performed by a single person in a single spell. Some practitioners, such as duellists and enchanters, had created some sets of spells to run in a sequence aimed at creating a complex single outcome. Professor McGonagall had shown them one of these sets the year before, when she had conjured up a block of marble, then transfigured that block into a statue of a rabbit, and at last had encouraged the statue to move like a real rabbit all in one continuous sequence of movements and incantations. Finally, a third way to use spells was to combine the efforts of various wizards and witches using the same spell simultaneously, to get results that one of them alone could not. This was commonly seen in magical construction, for example, when it was necessary to levitate a large block of stone that would quickly exhaust a single person because of its enormous weight.

Lily had gone far beyond these three forms creating, through intense use of Arithmancy, some really powerful and complex spells to be executed by several people at the same time, each of which may be aiding another in the same spell or accomplishing something completely different, but equally important for the final result. It was a relatively simple idea, but one that had escaped the magical society until then, and which created the potential to extrapolate much of what magic could do.

While most of the wizard folk chose a unique area of specialization and then devoted their entire lives to this unique area, Lily had apparently been brilliant in every area, and many of her best ideas combined results from different areas for new and unexpected results. One example that excited everyone was the way Lily had developed, using runes, crystals, potions and spells, a whole new and much faster and more efficient method of developing Occlumency, negating the need for years of hard and tedious training to achieve results that are not always satisfactory.

Another interesting result of Lily was an expansion on binary potions. They were known in the magical world only regarding poisons. In this case the poison is formed only when two different potions react with each other inside de victim's body, each one ingested through a different food or beverage, so that the examination of each one individually would not trigger any detections means.

Lily applied this basic idea in other contexts and obtained some new applications. The one that caught their attention due to the possibility of immediate use was an explosive potion. Most explosives potions were high unstable and any sudden change in pressure, temperature or motion can trigger the explosion. Lily discovered a binary potion as explosive as dynamite and as incendiary as napalm. Separated, each part was harmless, but if you put one of them inside a fragile glass dipped in a container filled with the other part, as soon as the glass inside broke, as would happen if you threw the set against the enemy like a grenade, the effect would be devastating. Katie suggested testing this combination inside a Quaffle so she could fire the Death Eaters in the Quidditch Cup. With the girl's efficiency as a chaser in Quidditch, it was an idea to consider.

-o0o-

"Are you going to stay there giggling or are you going to help your poor godchild get off the ground?" Harry asked irritably to his godfather after another failed floo landing. Sirius preferred to laugh; Harry stood up by himself and introduced Malcolm Boot, who had followed him through the floo.

"Hey, who did you buy this mausoleum from? The Addams family?" asked Harry, looking at the dismal state of that room. The lighting was minimal, everything smelled of mould and seemed to be centuries old, and the decorations were somewhat gothic, not to say funereal. Unfortunately the two adults had no idea what the Addams family would be.

"This house always belonged to the Blacks, Harry. Do you realize now why I never liked my origins? It was for a reason that I fled here when I was fifteen to live with your grandparents," answered Sirius a little embarrassed.

"Malcolm is sure that tomorrow you will be a free man again, Sirius, and you can leave this house forever, if you like. I'll leave you to prepare the strategy, I just ask you to keep my request in mind," Harry said.

"Do not worry, Harry. Getting your custody will be the only compensation I will ask for the years I spent in Azkaban without trial. Are you not going to be there tomorrow?" Sirius replied.

"If all goes well, Dumbledore will not know of this judgment until after it is finished, but he must still have spread the news of my disappearance among his friends, and there may be someone there who would want to catch me at his command. This is something I want to avoid at all costs. But do not worry, I'll be following everything as if I'm there through this," commented Harry, removing an enchanted mirror from his robe.

"Did you find Lily's notes on the Marauders' mirrors?" Sirius asked, recognizing what that artefact should be.

"I found notes from my mother about so many things! I never thought she was so clever!" said Harry proudly.

"I'm not aware of everything she did, but what I came to see was really fantastic. Too bad that most of the time she tried to explain something I was lost after the first minute of theory," said Sirius, a distant look reminiscent of those good times.

-o0o-

Harry left his godfather and lawyer planning the strategy for the next day and went to Gringotts to hire some special services. The first of these was the creation of an unprotected copy of the Potters' library. Harry decided he would keep the original stored in Gringotts for safety, but he would create a copy to be transported to the island when ready.

The second item on Harry's list was thin sheets of crystal to cover the electronic circuitry of equipment he wanted to use in magical environments. No one better than Gringotts goblins for this kind of work. The next item was an extensive list of potion ingredients, both for the medicinal potions they wanted to stock and for studying and testing his mother's ideas. Because it was a big buy, and some items have their sales restricted, Harry offered the goblins half the rebate they could get from the vendors as commission, as he knew the goblins would still get a better deal than if he tried to bargain directly with suppliers. After all, the goblins were business experts, while he had no experience at all.

After negotiating the duplication of the Carrows' library (the sisters would be in charge of bringing the books to the bank in batches), Harry decided to test his luck trying to find out what else the goblins could get for him.

"Ironclaw, would you happen to have any contact with the Muggle world? Could you get me some ... special items? "

"Yes, we have our contacts. We can get just about any type of item, for the right price and the right reason, if the item is of restricted use" replied the goblin, an appraising look at the boy, curious about the direction the conversation was taking.

"Do you have something similar to a Pensieve?" asked Harry, thinking it would be better to give some information before moving on in that direction.

Ironclaw picked up the communicator from his desk and passed some orders on his tongue to the person on the other side of the instrument. Soon a helper would bring and put on the table of his account manager a pensive very similar to the one used by the humans.

Harry wasted no time and deposited his memory of his confrontation with Quirrelmort at the end of his first year at Hogwarts, explaining their relationship to the attempted theft at Gringotts on his eleventh birthday.

"Hmm, curious. I am grateful that you have shared this memory with me. Too bad you have waited so long to do it," commented the goblin, making it clear that he was hurt by something so important just being revealed now. Harry thought it best to appease the goblin a bit before continuing.

"I'm sorry, Ironclaw. Understand that until I started studying at Hogwarts, I was trapped in the Muggle world, unaware of the existence of the magical world. And until recently, many things I should have learned about the magical world were denied me, I still do not know to what extent purposely or by mere carelessness."

"Yes, yes, indeed a pity," agreed Ironclaw, to Harry's relief. "It seems like you've finally made up your mind to fix this deficiency, for how active you've been this month, have you not?"

"Fortunately I made some genuine friendships recently that have helped me a lot, yours included," said Harry, getting a rare smile from the goblin for referring to him as a friend. "From what you can see in this memory, my fame is undeserved. Voldemort is still out there, though without a physical body at the moment. But that means he will eventually return and restart the war. For a long time I will not be able to face him or his followers magically. I have a small, well-hidden island that can give me some security, but I was thinking of getting some Muggle weapons to complete my defences ..."

"Well thought out, Harry. You have realized your shortcomings and are looking for ways to minimize them. I like that! By tradition, goblins have a distinct preference for blades and shields, but here among us, I am partial to this toy," commented Ironclaw, removing from the inside of his jacket the largest revolver Harry had ever seen.

"Wow! This looks more like a hand-cannon than a revolver! "He said, stunned.

"That's what the Muggles call a .44 Magnum, Harry. So powerful that it takes one of our double armours to stop the bullet, a simple one would not hold. And our breastplates are the best, I can guarantee that for sure, they support a reducto curse at point-blank range! The most powerful of the mages with the toughest magic shield will be able to avoid a single bullet before seeing their shield vanishing."

"I don't think I or my friends would be able to use a weapon like this, but I know there's a great variety of Muggle weapons, and maybe some of them are useful to us."

Ironclaw pondered for a few moments, and finally asked, "Harry, would there be more information you have and that we are not informed, whether about Voldemort or some other matter that might affect us in some way?"

Harry then used the Pensieve to show Ironclaw his fight against the basilisk and the destruction of the diary. This had a double purpose, to begin trading the basilisk's carcass and to introduce the Horcruxes as a reason for Voldemort's survival.

"Horcruxes are the most evil creation of humans. We do not even know if they would work with us, for I believe a goblin would never attempt such villainy. Anyone who dared to try would be punished in the most radical way possible, beginning with the expulsion of the offender from his clan and our nation with the complete extinction of all records about his existence, something that for one of us would be much worse than death" said Ironclaw upon learning of Voldemort's horcruxes.

"Would you happen to know how to eliminate the soul fragment without destroying the vessel?" asked Harry hopefully to find with the goblins the answer the Unspeakables were having trouble attaining.

"Unfortunately not. Many valuable Egyptian pieces had to be destroyed for this reason. Really a pity!"

"Yes, a pity," Harry commented, trying to hide his disappointment. "What about Muggle weapons?" He asked, returning the conversation to a more productive subject. "Do you think you could get us some really powerful ones?"

"We can get anything that's available on the black market, Harry," said Ironclaw. "A state-of-the-art nuclear bomb or a supersonic jetfighter is out of the question, but most personal weapons and some cannons and missile systems of lesser range and power are possible. You commented that your group has some limitations, right? Girls your age, without the strength or experience you need to use certain equipment? Perhaps the ideal is for you to make a list of what you want. I will then check if I can serve you with the requested items or some similar."

-o0o-

When Harry returned to the Greengrass mansion he actually tried to get out of the floo on his feet, not his ass. Unfortunately he never found out if his efforts would have been successful. As soon as he tried to steady himself a foot out of the fireplace, he was attacked by a blond missile speaking faster than his poor brain was able to keep up with.

"Harry! Bikes are the greatest invention of mankind since the puddings! I loved it! You're going to buy one for me too, aren't you? Please..."

That 'please' was said in a tearful, slowly way, seeming to be about 12 syllables long. And the blue eyes that were focused on his, only two inches away, shone with such happiness that he would be able to lay down his own life so they would continue this happy. Gradually he became aware of his situation. He was lying on the floor, just out of the fireplace. Lying over him and eagerly awaiting his answer was Luna. Surrounding them, a growing swarm of girls stared expectantly at the scene. He could bet that, responding affirmatively to Luna, he would receive a queue of other requests. Defeated before he even started to fight, he surrendered as dignifiedly as he could.

"Daphne and Tori got catalogues from the store where I bought them. Those of you who want one, select the model of your choice and any accessories that you want and I will order."

-o0o-

After a series of eager thanks, Harry found that most of the girls had spent most of the day concentrating on understanding Dumbledore's position. With all the other characters in the wizarding world, it was clear and easy to see what they wanted, but with the old headmaster of Hogwarts, his actions did not seem to match his fame or his speech adequately.

"I, Tracy and Maebh went to the Ministry to get some data, which we will now summarize for you. Albus Wulfric Dumbledore, and yes, initially his name was just so, was hired as an Alchemy teacher, then an elective subject for students of the last three years in Hogwarts, in 1926. In 1935, with the death of Paul Parkinson, then professor of Transfiguration and deputy headmaster, Albus got the then Headmaster, Armando Dippett, to put him in the functions of the deceased, extinguishing the course of Alchemy, along with other optional courses on Warding, Enchantments, and Politics in the Wizarding World," Lilith began. "We find it strange that Dumbledore had not only accepted but also been the proposer for the withdrawal of the Alchemy classes, a field where he became so famous, from the Hogwarts curriculum. So, just out of curiosity, we checked the curriculum of 1926 against the current one. The changes are drastic, and worse, incomprehensible. OWLs were applied in the fourth year, rather than the fifth year as now. Herbology and Astronomy were optional, while Rituals, Runes, and Arithmancy were obligatory, as well as Muggle Society for those born in magical society, and Magical Society for those born in Muggle society. Maebh, the numbers, please."

Maebh took a parchment from a pocket of her robe and began to explain: "For OWLs, we had nine compulsory subjects and eight electives, against the seven mandatory and five current electives. For NEWTs, the situation is even worse: before students were required to choose a minimum of seven out of twenty-two options; today they can settle for only three out of a total of twelve available. You see, it's not just a reduction in the number of disciplines provided, but what is required of the students as well. The material covered in our OWLs remains the same as in 1926, except now divided into five rather than four years, and with another setting of compulsory subjects, favouring easier and less useful disciplines than previously. With NEWTs the situation becomes ridiculous: what we are taught today in two years is half of what was taught in each discipline in 1926 in three years, and with much fewer options and fewer subjects required."

Taking a break, Bridget took the opportunity to comment: "Curious that Hogwarts taught Rituals in my grandparents' day and today I would be arrested if I read a book on the subject in public!"

"And you know who was the main motivator of this ban?" Tracey asked with a wicked grin.

"Dumbledore?!" asked Bridget confused and, receiving an affirmative nod from her colleague, added: "This is getting weirder! Where does this old gaga want to take our society?"

"Oh, let me and Lisa have our share, please!" Hannah asked. Lisa and Hannah lived in Godric's Hollow, the place where Harry and his family lived when attacked by Voldemort. Coincidentally, Dumbledore had also lived there in his childhood, and there lived the famous historian Bathilda Bagshot, Lisa's maternal grandmother, and the great influence that made the girl so fond of the history of magic. And Lisa already knew exactly what questions to use with her grandmother for a fruitful interview about Dumbledore's past and his little compromising secrets.

After a two-and-a-half-hour visit with the old historian, Lisa and Hannah returned with enough material to destroy the reputation of the old wizard who had so much power in their world. The group was astonished to learn of the extent of the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but the photos the girls copied and brought to the group, with the two of them cuddling on a sofa or walking hand in hand, left no doubt.

"While this is good material for gossip, it's not the most important thing we've discovered. Dumbledore and Grindelwald shared more than a bed; they also shared ideas and goals. They were shocked at the amount of things they thought to be wrong in the world, and with the ingenuity and idealism of young people they wanted to join efforts to heal the world," said Hannah.

"What they accepted was based on the idea of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham that 'the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people is the measure of right and wrong'. This is the origin of the 'Greater Good' that Dumbledore is always quoting," explained Lisa. "The problem that separated the two conspirators is that they failed to agree on who were the 'people' whose greatest happiness should be sought. For Grindelwald they would be just magical people, while Dumbledore wanted to include the whole human species."

"But this principle is so contestable!" complained Su Li "In China we had a philosopher named Xun Kuang about three centuries before Christ whose main thought was 'Human nature is evil and the Good can only be obtained by intentional activity. ' The problem with his philosophy, as well as to Bentham, is that all things in this world are connected to each other in so unpredictable and unusual ways that you can only evaluate all the consequences of an action long after it is executed, and not before, as their systems need so to guide our decisions. An ancestor of mine even created a little story to exemplify it."

"Well, tell us this story then," said Morag, receiving support from the majority.

"Oh Merlin!" The shy Chinese girl blushed, but she resigned herself and began, "It's the story of the little farmer Chang Li. One day his son came home with a beautiful wild horse that he had captured while shepherding. Neighbours soon lined up and greeted Chang Li about the beautiful animal, saying that the horse was certainly a source of great happiness. Li simply replied in a neutral way, saying 'Maybe so, but maybe not.' The next day his son tried to tame the wonderful horse, but received a kick that broke his arm, preventing him from working for a while. Neighbours lined up to visit old Li's son, telling the old man, 'What a tragedy!' Li simply replied, 'Maybe so, but maybe not.' Two days later the emperor's officers came to summon the young men to fight in the war against the Mongols, who threatened the northern border. Li's son was the only young man to be excused because of his broken arm..."

"I know!" interrupted young Beatrice. "The neighbours came to say 'How luck' and Li only responded with 'Maybe so, but maybe not'."

"Yes," Su replied, blushing even more. "The story continues for many other ventures and misfortunes, but I think everyone has already understood the essence ..."

"Wait a minute, there seems to be something very important here," Trisha said. "Grindelwald's position was simple. He wanted a stratified society, with the pureblood wizards at the top, followed by the half-bloods, the Muggleborns, and finally the Muggle masses as slaves. But what kind of society Dumbledore wants? If he preached the greater good including Muggles, society would have to be egalitarian, but the domain of magic creates a difference that makes such equality impossible. I don't understand..."

"Unless ..." Katie began, stopping in the middle of the phrase to shout "Oh no! It cannot be!"

"What cannot it be, Katie?" Mandy asked, but Katie was so shaken by the idea she had had that it was Luna who ended up responding.

"Unless he wants the death of the magical society, and see how close we are to this!" said the blonde. "Harry showed his calculations of how many students would fit at Hogwarts, but every decade there are less and less who start their studies."

"Muggles are becoming better at killing and spying on each other. With their artificial satellites, monitoring cameras and other electronic equipment, governments may already know the existence of the magical world, but they are keeping it as a State's secret, not divulging it to the population," commented Harry.

"And Dumbledore, allowing the wars between wizards to perpetuate themselves, and drastically decreasing the level of teaching, is actively collaborating for our extinction by the Muggles," Fay said, disgusted.

"But ... it does not make sense!" Mandy protested, confused. "Dumbledore is a wizard... and would he be cheating on us?"

"If he really stands for the Greater Good, and if he really includes the Muggles there ..." Daphne commented sadly.

"The prophecy! It makes sense applied to Dumbledore!" Astoria said suddenly, getting everyone's attention. "I ... I've been thinking ... No, seriously! Listen and see if it makes sense. The prophecy, this part of the seventh month and such ... it dictates it's of Potter that it talks about ... But as for the enemy, well, it not explicit it's Voldemort for sure, right? For example, it indicates that this enemy marked Potter as an equal. At first we thought of Potter's scar, but it did not mark Harry exactly as an equal, did it? Think about Dumbledore: he is famous all over the magic world for having beaten a Dark Lord, Grindelwald. And he marked Potter as an equal: it's because of his statements that Potter became world-famous for magically overcoming a Dark Lord, Voldemort. Dumbledore could have left everything quiet, or told everyone that Harry had also died, or that it was one of his parents who killed Voldemort, but no, he put all that weight on the shoulders of a little boy a little over a year old, really marking Harry as his equal."

Astoria's comment killed the meeting. In small groups of two or three they retired for the night, and the special day that would follow, with the judgment of Wormtail and Sirius, talking quietly about who really was and what really wants the mystery that was Dumbledore.

-o0o-

Finally came the day of the trial of Wormtail and Sirius Black. For safety, Harry ended up accepting the advice to stay at the Greengrass mansion. Susan would go with Hannah and Maebh carrying a charmed mirror and the others would follow the judgments from the mansion, through the immense mirror of the dance hall, charmed to receive the transmission. If Harry's presence was necessary as a witness, he could quickly get there through the floo net, but the intention was to avoid his participation for fear that Dumbledore or one of his co-religionists would be there and try to stop the boy.

The period of preparation until the trial had been hard for Madame Bones. It had begun with a strange letter from her niece Susan, requesting an appointment with urgency. All it took was a quick spell to tell the stern lady Bones that in fact the mouse presented by her niece's young companion was in fact an unregistered animagus. Reviewing at home the memories of Astoria Greengrass and Harry Potter about the confrontation with Sirius Black and the revelation that Peter Pettigrew was still alive had been a shock.

Confirming that Sirius Black had not in fact been given a trial, or even a simple interrogation, she traced the next steps of action, but the difficulty of keeping everything a secret was enormous. In the end, she eventually resolved to keep Pettigrew trapped in the Bones mansion, away from all ministerial corruption, revealing the fact only to Alastor Moody, the only person she could trust with any certainty in a situation like that. It was a risk for her to adopt this totally non-standard procedure, but she could see that there was a lot at stake in that case. For safety, as long as Pettigrew was in the mansion, she agreed that Susan would stay with the Greengrass sisters. Summoning the Wizengamot to the trial brought another concern: she had to again counter the standard procedures and deny some members of that body their requests for seeing the proceedings before the exposition in plenary. Luckily, none of the petitioners forced the situation, accepting her apologies that the secret was key to ensuring the safety of everyone involved.

The hearing began with the presentation of the still alive Peter Pettigrew, to the astonishment of the audience. Madame Bones took over the prosecution and, three drops of veritaserum and a few questions and answers later, Peter Pettigrew saw his Order of Merlin revoked and his doomed carcass condemned to vanish through the veil of death. Being a half-blood, and responsible for the erroneous incarceration of the head of one of Britain's most renowned magical families, his punishment was as severe as possible in an attempt by the Wizengamot to reconcile with the Lord Black. Given the outcome of the trial and the revelations filed, the order for immediate execution of Sirius Black was revoked.

For a trial, that of Sirius Black passed exceptionally quickly and quietly. After Pettigrew's trial, few doubts remained. However, a seemingly innocuous question from Madame Bones highlighted an obscure point in the 'official history' of that celebrated Halloween: 'Sirius Black, could you tell us why you decided to go hunting for Peter Pettigrew instead of taking care of your godson, which should be your main obligation at the moment?"

"I tried. As soon as I reached the Potters' home, I found the door smashed and James' body in the living room. I immediately went upstairs, where I found the destroyed nursery, Lily also dead on the ground, and Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, gathering little Harry from his cradle. I explained to Hagrid that I was Harry's godfather, and that I would take him with me to take care of him. Hagrid denied me access to the boy, saying that Dumbledore had given him explicit instructions on where to take little Harry, and had already decided who would take care of him from now on..."

It was at this point that Sirius stopped his narrative, his face assuming an expression of surprise. At last he exclaimed, "Hey! How did Dumbledore know that James and Lily had died but Harry did not?!"

-o0o-

Minutes later Sirius Black was a free and happy man, and told the press his first task was to re-establish a relationship with his godson, Harry Potter, whose guard he requested to be turned over to him. The Wizengamot, in quick deliberation, removed from Dumbledore the Guard of the Boy-Who-Lived turning it over to Sirius on condition that he presented certificates from a healer assuring his ability to perform the function.

The girls attending the trial invited Sirius, Malcolm and Remus to lunch at the Greengrass Mansion with Harry. Pressed by Harry and the girls still present at the mansion, Sirius used Malcolm's help to get, fill and file all the documentation later that day, not without first mocking Harry's situation as the only boy in a house full of girls. Harry, finally tired of so many insinuations, put an end to the happiness of his godfather, promising that if he behaved he would one day teach him to be really appreciated by the opposite sex and that he would then no longer have to be so envious.

-o0o-

The next day was spent putting Sirius and Remus abreast of the events and plans of the group. The two adults did not like the idea of children attacking the Death Eaters in the Quidditch Cup. They found the plan amazing, they only feared the danger they would expose themselves. As for the rest, they promised to cooperate in what they could, but they asked for some time to consider the attack and to propose some modifications in the plan if they could think of something to make it safer.

Meanwhile, The Quibbler published a lengthy article on Pettigrew's and Sirius' hearing, and an exclusive interview with Harry Potter. Both were grateful and praised the government for the swift and decisive action in correcting a serious error of the previous administration. The 'support' to the government was not gratuitous: it had been thought of as a form of protection against the possibility of Dumbledore or Malfoy wanting to challenge Harry's guard, showing how the boy-who-lived and his godfather were happily together and subtly placing the Minister of Magic as benefactor and protector of that situation.

The group could soon verify the correctness of that measure. That same day, they discovered that Dumbledore had already been briefed on the judgments of yesterday, and was not at all happy about the results.


	8. 08 Dumbledore's reaction

**A/N: My thanks to my new beta Haphne24 and for all of you who fav/review. Any mistakes still present are due to my stubbornness in preserve some parts in its original form.**

 **CHAPTER 8 – Dumbledore's reaction**

 _Dear Sirius_

 _Congratulations on regaining your freedom. I was surprised to find out about the events at yesterday's Wizengamot meeting. I thought Pettigrew had escaped once more from paying for his crimes, so it was a great surprise to discover that he was under the guards of the DMLE. Could you clarify this point for me by explaining how he was captured? This is a point on which I have not gotten more information so far._

 _Although happy with the results, I must express my deep disappointment at how this whole matter was conducted. Even with the capture of young Peter, the situation was still far from settled. Members of our government could have objected to stirring up such a serious error of our recent past involving characters who, in some cases, still hold considerable power. That you have, against my instructions, run the risk of exposing yourself prematurely and suffering a sad end at the hands of some exceedingly zealous Auror, and have not even bothered to warn me of your actions, makes me deeply concerned. Such behaviour is more suited to the young marauder who has caused so much trouble at Hogwarts, than to the stable and rational adult young Harry needs as a guardian and mentor._

 _Sirius, we need to talk urgently. I'm very worried about Harry's situation. Your godson always seemed like a sensible and well-behaved person, but he underwent a sudden change at the end of the school year and became a rebellious, temperamental teenager now. We must urgently correct these deviations of behaviour before Harry strays from the path of Goodness and ceases to hear the sound of common sense. We must discover the origin of this rebellion and ensure that his friendships remain restricted to the good members of our society._

 _Sirius, our time is short. I need an immediate response otherwise I'll have to take the necessary actions alone to ensure that the boy-who-lived does not deviate from the noble mission that Fate and Glory traced to him._

 _(...)_

-o0o-

 _To the young Harry_

 _My boy, I understand that recent events may have been stressful for someone so young and inexperienced. That is why I once again appeal to your good sense so that you obey the instructions of someone more experienced and who only wants the best for you._

 _Harry, return immediately to the Dursleys' house and wait for my visit. I will know as soon as you have returned to the bosom of your family, and I will see you there so that we may talk about your recent rebelliousness and disobedience. I promise that I will take into account the peculiarities of your situation in establishing your punishment, which will be just and merciful. I assure you, if you will come to me promptly, I will even arrange some time for you to spend with your godfather, Sirius, before the end of your summer vacation, despite all the disappointment your actions have caused me._

 _Remember, we are living through difficult and dangerous times, and every precaution is necessary. Your actions impact not only your own safety, but also that of your family, and even that of your friends and all magical society, in a way, since many see you as a special person. I hope you have the maturity to meet your responsibilities to our entire society. I am sure that your parents are also disappointed with how you are putting at risk the life they sacrificed theirs to save._

 _(...)_

-o0o-

The anger the group felt against Dumbledore reached a climax. The letters he had sent to Sirius and Harry were far too offensive to ignore, as they made it clear that the old wizard would not easily give up his claims to control both. Dumbledore would certainly use his position in the Wizengamot to try to secure Harry's, and perhaps even Sirius', guardianship if he could convince his peers that Sirius had suffered mental damage from his long stay in Azkaban.

In a reversal of the original plans, all directed against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, it was decided that an attack on Dumbledore would be fundamental both as direct revenge against his actions and as a way to prevent him from taking any control over them. Moreover, as Luna pointed out, it would be a fun way to lessen the tension and revolt created in the group. The girls were already putting everything they found out about Dumbledore on paper, they just had to streamline the process a bit.

-o0o-

As if Dumbledore's letters the night before were not enough, the next morning brought another pile of mail to Harry, and two letters to Sirius, one of them from Dumbledore again, the other a howler (fortunately deactivated by the goblins) from Molly. Seeing the red envelope and the sender's name, Sirius once again thanked the Greengrass sisters for their hospitality, since at Grimmauld Place he would have had to endure the howler.

Dumbledore's letters to Harry and Sirius were basically repetitions of the previous ones, only reinforcing that if they did not contact him until noon he would have to take drastic action 'to prevent further damage.'

Molly was gentle with Harry, but treating him like a small child, demanding obedience through emotional blackmail. Yet with Sirius she was much more direct and hostile, calling him 'irresponsible' and accusing him of kidnapping Harry from his 'legitimate family'.

 _Hey, Harry._

 _What the hell kind of adventures have you walked in without your best friend? Well, never mind! What matters is that my father got tickets for the Quidditch World Cup final, in the box of the Minister of Magic himself! I have one here reserved for you, but you better start behaving, or the adults will not let you go!_

 _Send news, and do whatever it takes to not miss this opportunity! Quidditch World Cup Final!_

 _Ron_

"No surprises here," Harry commented. "Ron will not think of anything beyond this Cup Final until at least Christmas."

"Oh yes, and great advice he has for you," answered Astoria, a little irritated. "Abandon all your plans for the future and a better life so you can watch an idiotic game that adds nothing to your life!"

Harry even thought of upholding the importance of Quidditch, but a look at Astoria convinced him to let that opportunity pass. Anyway, he knew deep down Tori was right.

The next letter that Harry had opened was sent by Ginny, which intrigued the boy. It was the first time the girl, who had such difficulty in behaving normally in her presence, wrote him something.

 _Hello Harry_

 _I hope you do not mind that I have decided to write for you. Dumbledore was here last night and tried to convince all of us that you are in danger and that we should write to you to persuade you to return to your relatives. Well, fat chance on that! From what the twins and Ron described from your uncle and cousin, I bet you're much better now, wherever you are._

 _I will never forget what you did for me in my first year at Hogwarts. It was not the famous and powerful Dumbledore who discovered what was happening and save me, but you, with some help from Ron and Hermione. If you are happy and safe where you are, that is enough for me, and to hell the will of adults who want to interfere without even knowing what is going on or what your reasons for acting against their will are!_

 _I would very much like you to come with us to the Quidditch Cup Final, but not at the expense of your freedom and happiness. Ron must have said everything about the World Cup (and I'll bet nothing but the World Cup). Here at home he is continually complaining that you are getting involved with other students, and from other houses even! Well, I think it was time for you to make more friends. Could we be friends too? I know my shyness has been the main hurdle so far, but I will really make an effort to improve. Would you help me?_

 _I think I've said enough for now. Know that you have my full support as long as your decisions are really yours and you are weighing the pros and cons before you act! Do not let anyone use you for your fame or wealth, that's all I hope._

 _Love,_

 _Ginny_

"I would love to have found something to criticize, but she seems really sincere," Tori commented, reading the letter over Harry's shoulder.

"Jealousy, a lot?" asked Harry, smiling.

"Oh, no. I got you first. She is the one who will be jealous," replied the blonde, smiling back maliciously.

Harry also received support from the Weasleys twins in a fun but somewhat complicated letter to read. It seems that the linear sequence beginning-middle-end was too trivial for the two, who skipped the subject and changed their handwriting every other line. The other four cards were fans of the Boy-Who-Lived, with which he had gradually grown accustomed and even waiting with excitement. As long as the quantity remained manageable, he intended to respond to each of them personally, encouraging and influencing those children to see him in a more naturally way and to feel that they too could be special if they discovered and developed their skills.

-o0o-

The next two days were calm and productive. Sirius, Daphne, and Astoria prepared the engagement contract, and Sirius liked the young and irreverent little witch to the point of proposing to take the cancellation clauses out of the contract. The clauses remained after Tori had promised that she would take a formal request from Harry over anyone else. Meanwhile, Luna and Lisa organized a special edition of The Quibbler with the complete story of Albus Dumbledore since the incident with Muggle boys causing their sister Ariana's disturbance and her father's arrest up to the recent security problems at Hogwarts, most of them involving Harry Potter in any way. Sure, the romance with Grindelwald received considerable attention.

They were all studying apparition under the instruction of Bridget Carlson and supervision of Remus, who was also collaborating with the preparation of the island. Mandy did a great job with Harry's finances, greatly increasing his income to the point where Sirius hired her to perform similar service with the resources of the Black family, leaving the girl immensely happy. Lilith had also made important points with her father for achieving exclusivity of supply of magic products for the group.

Research based on Lily's notes left an ambiguous impression on the group. On one hand, they had barely begun to analyse and comprehend the profusion of ideas Lily had left; on the other hand, the quantity of new potions, spells, and other inventions that were coming out of the research was simply fantastic, and much more sure would still come. It was a joy to see how much they had been learning, and desperation to see how much more they had to do.

To spend so much time away from home involved in all those activities, most of the girls opted for the 'summer jobs' excuse, which worked well. Susan was one of the few who did not have to use the excuse. After discussing the matter with the group, she asked her aunt for a meeting that also included the old Auror Alastor Moody, on the recommendation of Sirius and Remus. With the help of Harry's pensieve and memories, she told them both about the still-present threat of Voldemort, the dangerous events at Hogwarts for the past three years, and the strange way Dumbledore had been dealing with them. For safety, the group's activities, Harry's horcrux, and the impending meeting of the Death Eaters were out of the discussion.

Dumbledore finally showed his plans through two articles published in the same issue of The Daily Prophet. The first of them focused on Sirius and began in a very complimentary manner, painting Sirius as a hero who, unjustly imprisoned, had taken on the task of capturing and revealing the real culprit for the sad facts surrounding Halloween in 1981. However, the article went on to speculate on the ill effects that the man's long exposure to the Dementors might have caused his psyche, the nefarious influence that thoughts centred on revenge and retaliation against Pettigrew might have caused, the need for a better evaluation of that poor individual before releasing him into society again and the danger of entrusting custody of a young man as important as Harry Potter to such a troubled soul.

The second article focused on Harry. He began by recalling the sad death of his parents and the young man's need to spend his childhood outside the magical world for fear of his safety. He then made a complimentary retrospective of his earliest years at Hogwarts and went on speculating about the magical world's great expectations for the bright young man's future, concluding with a poignant quote from Dumbledore himself revealing his intentions to take young Harry as his disciple in a few years, preparing the boy to take on the role of continuator of his struggle for the good of British magical society. It was no surprise that the correspondence of Sirius and Harry of that day revealed the presence of summonses to a special meeting of the Wizengamot to discuss the guard of Harry.

Luckily they were ready. After discovering the extent of Dumbledore's plot, Sirius quickly prepared and headed for the mainland to prepare his defence. Luna, for her part, merely commented: "I'm going to visit Daddy and ask him to start printing the special edition."

-o0o-

The next morning brought a small surprise to the group. In a new article in The Daily Prophet, Lucius Malfoy also claimed to be interested in obtaining custody of the Boy-Who-Lived and tried to prove why he would be a better choice than the lonely, old and over-busy Dumbledore for the errand.

With the group's plans to destroy Dumbledore's reputation, Malfoy would have a real chance to succeed. Astoria did not like that threat at all, and said to Harry, "If he gets his custody I want you in your island even before he could look at you, and you will only get out of there when you reach majority, do you understand?"

When Harry told the news about Malfoy to Sirius, who was still on the mainland, his godfather simply replied, "Do not worry about it, Harry. Lucius does not stand a chance to win this fight. Leave everything to me and go have some fun." For some reason Sirius could not understand, that statement made the group even more worried.

-o0o-

The special edition of The Quibbler was delivered on the day of the special guardian hearing. The life of the great Albus Dumbledore was all revealed: the Muggle boys' attack on his sister; the revenge of his father and his imprisonment and later death in Azkaban; the solitude of mother and daughter restricted to the interior of the house; Albus' search for knowledge and recognition; the tragic death of the mother; the romance with Gellert and dreams about the 'Greater Good'; the tragic death of his sister; the break with Gellert and his brother Aberforth; the years of travel and study abroad; the return as teacher at Hogwarts; the confrontation against the ex-lover, sung by all as one of the greatest magical duels in history, but of which only Dumbledore's description was known; the first incident with the Chamber of Secrets with the death of Myrtle Warren, the erroneous expulsion of Hagrid, and awarding of the murderer Tom Riddle, due to Dumbledore omitting his suspicions during the investigation of the facts; how Tom Riddle would become Voldemort, when Dumbledore's timely action might have condemned the young man to Azkaban before he became so powerful; how Dumbledore had allowed Voldemort to place himself as guardian of the traditions and purity of blood in the magical world, even knowing of his Muggle origin; the slow and steady decline in the level of education at Hogwarts that occurred during his years as headmaster; his role in the strange change of address of the Potters to Godric's Hollow; his unilateral and illegal decision to deny Harry custody of his godfather to put the boy in an abusive Muggle environment; his dangerous decision to hide an artefact of the calibre of the philosopher's stone in a school, and warn students about the danger of death circling a certain third-floor corridor; the upkeep of sub-standard teachers like Snape, Quirrell, Binns, Lockhart, and Burbage at school; the fiasco with the second incident of the Chamber of Secrets; the terrible state of Hogwarts' wards leaving trolls, Death Eaters, animagi, a basilisk, hundreds of dementors and various evil artefacts circulating with impunity on the school grounds, as well as a colony of dangerous acromantulas nestled in the surrounding Forest...

Secondary articles revealed even more details on important topics: the origins of Voldemort; the Chamber of Secrets of Salazar Slytherin and his monster; the phony Lockhart and his memory spells; data confirming the elimination of disciplines at Hogwarts, general drop in grades, deficiency of students with NEWT in potions, defence and history. For Harry, the main thing was the article in which he publicly revealed the mistreatment he had received from his relatives, and how Dumbledore had not only put him there without legal support, but as he insisted on his continued return to that evil environment even after Harry had exposed the bad treatment he received from his relatives.

The children were still having lunch when Luna received a floo call from her father, congratulating her and her friends on the brilliant extra edition of The Quibbler, which had already broken all sales records and continued to exhaust every new impression Xenophilius released to his dealers. A quick check of the data provided by Xenophilius convinced everyone that Harry was on the right track by suspecting that the census data of the magical population were wrong: the sales Xenophilius reported had equalled 1.5 times the island's magical population including children still unable to read. There was no logic in considering that each person was buying two or three copies of The Quibbler each, were there?

-o0o-

At the request of Sirius and Amelia, Alastor and Remus accompanied Harry to the Ministry to ensure his safety and to isolate him from any contact with Dumbledore or Malfoy.

The session began when Dumbledore entered the room and headed for his usual position as leader of the Wizengamot to preside over the works. His serenity and contentment were a good sign. Apparently the old mage had been so busy rehearsing his performance for the audience that he did not yet know of the special edition of The Quibbler which, courtesy of the editor, had been sent free to other members of the plenary.

Even before Dumbledore took his seat, Malfoy stood up and raised a point of order to challenge Albus to chair the session for being a stakeholder in the results of it. This point did not shake the renowned wizard, who had already foreseen this possibility. Without much delay, Madame Longbottom was appointed and accepted the responsibility of presiding over the hearing.

The situation worsened greatly for Dumbledore the next moment, when Madame Bones presented a new point of order.

"Based on data presented by the press on this date, my department has gathered evidence and collected signed testimony from several individuals and is now preparing charges against Albus Dumbledore for several serious crimes, including omission of aid, neglect and assistance in physical and emotional abuse of a minor, namely the very minor for whom he now pleads at this hearing to be guardian, so it is my duty to call for his disqualification as a possible guardian of that minor and for the suspension of his participation in this honourable body until those same complaints are duly analysed and the extent of his participation in these reprehensible activities clarified to the satisfaction."

Totally defeated and confused by the unexpected turnaround, hitherto mighty Albus Dumbledore had to confine himself to the public gallery, where he began to take note of the main cause of his bad fortune from a copy of The Quibbler which his old friend Daedalus Diggle delivered to him.

-o0o-

Lucius Malfoy did not believe in his luck. In five minutes of audience, his main antagonist for the Boy-Who-Lived custody not only failed to preside over the session as he was excluded from the custody and the Wizengamot itself, awaiting criminal charges! Lucius did not remember smiling so much in such a short time!

And there was really short time for him to smile. Once again Madame Bones presented a point of order and now he was the affected part! Bones presented Gringotts records confirming that Harry Potter was the primary heir to Sirius Black, including the headship of House Black. By an old law that few remembered, it was considered a conflict of interests, and therefore forbidden, for a head of house or direct heir to such a position to be under the custody of a branch of the family that could inherit the same title, since it was common that the life of such head / heir did not last long in such conditions.

With the two contestants for the position of Harry's guardian out of the way, Madame Bones moved quickly to prevent anyone else from introducing themselves for the post. She delivered to the plenary table a series of attestations, issued by the main Healers of the continent, ensuring the sanity and ability of Sirius Black to exercise his rightful position as guardian, and called for ratification by the plenary and closure of the case. With so many accusations and revelations that The Quibbler had given everyone about the renowned Albus Dumbledore, it was easy to get the session done quickly. Everyone wanted to digest all that information and think about what would become of the future of the magical society with the possible downfall of Dumbledore, and how each could profit from that situation.

-o0o-

With a bunch of teenagers gathered in one place under little adult supervision, and happy with recent results, the Greengrass mansion had the most lively party since its construction. Harry was having fun like everyone else, but at the same time he had a feeling bothering him, that something was still out of place.

"The second Prophecy!" he exclaimed when he finally remembered the detail that was irritating him, catching the attention of all his friends.

"What second prophecy?" Astoria asked immediately.

"On the day of my examination in Divination, the very day we met Pettigrew, Trelawney made a prophecy: 'The Dark Lord is alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been in chains for the last twelve years. Tonight, before midnight... The servant will free himself and join his master. The Dark Lord will rise with the help of his servant, greater and more terrible than ever... '"

"You were thinking that this prophecy was about Pettigrew, Harry?" asked Daphne, receiving a positive nod from the boy. "Well, I do not think so! Pettigrew was not chained at all, was he? He chose to stay with the Weasleys because it was easier. He could have run away at any time ... It does not fit very well, does it?"

"Now that you said, it does not really make much sense. And the servant's name is not mentioned explicitly..." commented Harry.

"Prophecies are very difficult to interpret until they are completed and the relevant facts are known," commented Maebh. "Whoever that servant is, I'm sure he did not run away, found Voldemort and resurrected him, all in a few hours. This whole process may have begun that night, but it may take weeks or even months to complete. It may even be that all that took place that night was the servant's decision to look for his master."

"It may even be that the prophecy is false," Astoria replied. "I do not give a knut whatsoever for what that woman says! For me she is nothing more than a fraud."

"How do you create a new body for a wandering spirit?" asked Morag. "Are there many ways to do it, or just a few? They must be few, or Voldemort would have come back ages ago, right? After all, it's been twelve years since Harry destroyed him. Does anybody have an idea what it takes?"

Slowly the glances converged on the timid Carrow twins, the only ones with a little more knowledge in Black Magic.

"We do not know the answer. This is advanced Black Magic, and we never get involved with it," said Hestia. "But I have some guesses from what I've heard about it. It will have to be a complex ritual, and it will involve sacrifices. Rituals of White Magic involve sacrifice of the beneficiary himself, while in Black magic the sacrifice is for others, by force, for the benefit of the beneficiary. To create a new body, I would say flesh, bones and blood would be involved. The sources could vary according to the ritual: a virgin, a parent, a new-born, a servant, a powerful enemy, a special magical creature..."

"Except for the parents, nothing we can identify and make it difficult to access in advance ..." Bridget concluded.

"Riddle is not a common last name," commented Harry. "It may be easy to locate where Voldemort's father is buried. But we must act carefully and avoid meeting with him and his servant, if we can."

-o0o-

This time Harry was aware, and he saw Lisa's subtle touch warning Fay of his arrival, and also Morag's encouraging push in Su Li. Seconds later, Fay and Su were in his arms, talking animatedly to him, although Su still showed some reserve and shyness.

If he had not been so attentive he wouldn't have noticed the discreet signs. If it had not been for the 'lessons' he'd had with Daphne, maybe that would all have gone unnoticed by his naive old self.

These new developments began shortly after the custody hearing, when Daphne, for the first time, and using the excuse of being 'celebrating', kissed him at length in front of the other girls. It seems that this kiss had worked as a 'sign' for the others. From that moment, his relationship with them began to become more physical.

At first it was nothing special, just a touch on the shoulder here, the hold of the hand when walking together; to lean on him a little when sitting nearby, things like that. Luna was by far the most affectionate, but it seems that the others simply considered her a case apart, letting her act freely. The others, however, seemed to be obeying some kind of relay agenda. Now, as the days went by, contact was not only more frequent but a little more intimate and persistent. Harry rarely spent time without one or two girls hugging him, and the kisses on his face were a constant whenever one of them came or went.

Astoria had to scold him to stop worrying. Yes, Harry was happy as the target of all that attention, but also worried. On the one hand, he felt as if he were betraying Astoria, or even Daphne, leaving the other girls so close to him, although both were happy with the situation and continually encouraging him to open up to all the girls in the group. On the other hand, he feared that eventually the girls would start to quarrel him more actively, and that jealousy and broken hearts would create gaps in that hitherto cohesive group.

It was Luna who managed to soften the young man's worries a little. They had realized that a faint and incipient form of telepathy had begun to develop among them, and Luna was by far the most skilled in the art, both to 'read' others and to convey their own thoughts to them. She first made Harry sit down and snuggled into his lap, resting her head on his chest, and transmitted to him, and to the other girls, the emotions she felt. Harry marvelled at the amount and intensity of the emotions involved, coming to tears. To the boy who had so little experience with such emotions, that experience was something vastly larger than he thought to be possible. Luna then left her position and placed the nearest girl, Susan, in Harry's lap. She then returned to convey the emotions she felt and Harry could see that there was nothing jealous there, it was exactly like he had felt the first time: Luna was really happy that a friend could enjoy the same happiness she had felt, and the knowledge that Harry would be there again for her when she needed him prevented any form of jealousy from appearing.

The whole experience made Harry's thoughts jump in a thousand different directions. Without realizing it, he had entered into a state in which he was now radiating his thoughts to the girls, just as Luna had been doing until moments before. The girls were amazed at the rapidity and multiplicity of thoughts that the boy was developing, and they followed in fascination the way it unfold until Harry found two concepts that unified all that multitude of ideas: the cost / benefit rate and the postponement of gratification for a greater result.

As Harry saw it, Luna was willing to share Harry's time with the other girls (cost) for the advantage of having those same girls as friends rather than enemies (benefit). She was sacrificing an immediate lesser good (having Harry just for herself) for a much larger and more lasting good, even if part of it would only bear fruit in the future (be part of a group of friends living in harmony that would change the world for the better). It was such a stronger experience for him as it differed from what he had heard so much as a child: his Uncle Vernon exercising his strong selfishness for small immediate personal advantages at the cost of treading and abusing everyone around him.

If there was indeed a Greater Good, it would have to be this way: to be willing to give of oneself for the good of all who were also willing to give of themselves.


	9. 09 End of Summer

**CHAPTER 09 – End of Summer**

With the special issue of The Quibbler revealing all his past, Dumbledore was quite busy trying to save what he could from the situation. This gave the group the calm needed to carry on with their goals.

The first major change occurred with the situation of Sirius and Remus. Neither wanted to live in the Blacks' ancestral home, which Sirius did not demolish for fear of raising new suspicions about his sanity, but they did not want to interfere too much with the youngsters, though they did want to spend time with Harry.

When Remus said he needed to go back to looking for a job, Sirius persuaded Harry to hire Remus to rebuild the Potter mansion in Wales. It was difficult to persuade Remus to take the job, but the two now lived happily in the small fishing cottage near the lake, which had escaped the destruction of the main building. Harry had totally forgiven Sirius, since between Hagrid preventing access to his godson and Peter's betrayal, Harry himself would not have acted different, but he did not know what to think of the werewolf friend. Okay, lycanthropy was a heavy burden, but Remus could have been closer and more direct to Harry while he was lecturing at Hogwarts, at least.

The Carrow sisters were also happy with their new residence in the Southeast Tower of Potter Island. There they were cataloguing and organizing the large library built from the Potter, Carrow, Black and Lovegood family collections, as well as shopping in Flourish & Blotts and Muggle bookstores. According to the twins, the library, in number of titles, was already the largest in British magical world and probably only lost to those of Alexandria, Vatican and Chinese Imperial Palace.

Bridget had been an excellent teacher, and almost everyone was already proficient at apparating. It was a strenuous activity for the younger girls, but very useful as a security measure when they were away from Hogwarts to the point that they continually strived to master the technique. The prediction was that in ten more days they would all have mastered the process. Bridget could not wait for this to happen to be able to dedicate to two new projects: to learn to make portkeys and to verify a special spell of Lily.

At the time of the founding of Hogwarts a Hungarian wizard, Laszlo Árpád, discovered how to create portals between two distant points, allowing a person to pass directly from one place to another without any inconvenience. The problem with these portals was that their creation required the combined efforts of two people, one at the source and the other at the destination, acting in perfect synchronism for the portal to establish itself in a stable way. In practice, this limited its application to points within the range of vision of the performers.

Between this severe limitation of visibility and synchronicity, the time needed to open the portal and the magical power expended in its maintenance; the spell did not succeed and was soon forgotten. Lily had found mention of this spell in a history book, obtained the description of the procedure in an old book with Professor Flitwick, and was trying to overcome the visibility limit by using two more people to synchronize by sending Patronus spells to each other. Bridget's interest in the spell had a simple reason: with the telepathy that members of the group were developing synchronization would be easy and straightforward, and the need for the performers to see each other would be eliminated.

-o0o-

Harry took advantage of the relative calmness to establish better contact with his friends who were not part of the group. He visited Neville personally and was able to stay alone long enough with his companion to give him a communication mirror and a not very detailed summary of what had been going on about Voldemort and Dumbledore.

With Hermione, who had returned from Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland, the difficulty was to get some time alone with the girl away from her parents' ears. Sirius and Remus helped at that point, accompanying Harry to a barbecue at the Granger residence on Sunday after their return from the Continent. With Sirius keeping Dan company on the grill and Remus answering Emma's questions about the magical world, the two teenagers had the time to talk.

"Mi, I have a lot to tell you, but I need you to swear to keep it a secret," Harry began.

"A magical oath? Harry, you know how serious they are, don't you?"

"Yes. In fact, one of the stories I have to tell is exactly about a magical oath that came out stronger than we expected."

Seeing that her friend was hesitant to accept, Harry decided to push her a little, giving her an idea of what was to come: "Seriously, Mi. We know how Voldemort has avoided dying, about the next Death Eaters attack scheduled for next month, we have created Britain's largest magical library; we have a group of more than twenty people involved in special researches outlined by my mother and in the future confrontation against Voldemort..."

"Okay, I get it!" replied the girl, who had already decided to accept the oath by hearing about the immense library. "But since when are you allowed to call me 'Mi'?"

"Uh, maybe since the troll?" Harry replied uncertainly. "You do not like it?"

Hermione had to think a little before answering.

"I don't know. At the moment I feel just an oddity, as nobody ever used a diminutive of my name with me."

Oath done, Harry could finally reveal all his secrets to his best friend. Hermione was hurt to hear of the women's groups at Hogwarts just now, on the verge of starting her fourth year at school, but eventually acknowledged that her imposing personality and her permanent presence alongside Harry and Ronald were considerable hindrances. In the end, the young woman agreed to take the special oath of the group (the chance of being able to participate in those researches plus the telepathy that the members were gradually developing were too tempting) and the two teens went back to the adults, with Hermione trying to convince her parents to let her spend the hours they devoted to work in a study group. Emma ended up agreeing since Hermione held some meetings at the Grangers' house so that her parents could meet the other members of the group.

With the Weasleys the situation was a bit more difficult. Ginny and the twins had proven to be on their side and trusted, but Ronald was a serious problem. Harry wanted to keep his friendship with the boy; after all, it was his first friendship with someone his age, and they had been through some remarkable experiences. But on the other hand, Ron would hardly accept contact with Slytherins, had been jealous of Harry's new friends, and was not interested in anything but food, Quidditch and chess.

As an experiment, Harry sent a special mirror to Ronald directly with Hedwig, connected only to a single mirror he kept with him. Proving that the young Weasley hardly thought before acting, Ron had apparently forgotten that the mention of the name 'Harry' next to the mirror would activate it, giving the boy with the scar a chance to listen to an interesting dialogue remotely.

"... sent to me, Mother!" Harry heard Ronald saying as he activated his mirror.

"What is it, Ron?" Mrs Weasley's voice came up.

"A mirror that allows you to speak directly to him! How much do you think Dumbledore would pay for it?"

It was enough for Harry to decide that Ron should not be informed of his secrets and that from now on he would be treated more as a mere acquaintance than a real friend. Destroying the mirror in his hand, Harry wondered what kind of accident he would use as an excuse for the non-functioning mirror he had sent his ex-friend.

-o0o-

Unfortunately direct contact with Ginny and the Weasley twins was out of the question. Harry did not want to risk going to the Burrow to meet up with Dumbledore, nor did he think Mrs Weasley would let three of her children (including the youngest and only girl among them) leave the house every day without the supervision of an adult (or even any adult other than her). However, the mirrors could help by allowing a remote contact. After all, the three had a habit of spending long periods in their rooms, or around the house, as long as they did not leave the property.

Remus arranged for the mirrors to be delivered, putting the three in a package just beyond the entrance gate of the property. The twins, alerted by letter, easily found the mirrors and handed Ginny's to her sister. The three plus Neville made their oaths at distance, and now they followed directly the activities of the group, participating in them as possible.

-o0o-

Before beginning the rebuilding of the Potter mansion, Remus and Sirius prioritized to make the entire property safe, reworking the protections and hiring Gringotts to put the whole area under a Fidelius spell with Harry as guardian of the secret.

With Neville's birthday falling on a Saturday, Harry's on Sunday and Trisha's on day three, a big party to celebrate the birthdays and also the relocation of the group from Greengrass mansion to Potter Island, due to the return of the Greengrass couple on Monday, was scheduled for that weekend. To ensure the girls' overnight stay, parents were also invited and magical tents were provided for everyone's accommodation.

-o0o-

Bridget and Maebh, working together, had mastered the use of the portal spell, and August began with the group meeting on the island, first going through the flu network to Maebh's house, and there using a portal that Bridget, now living on the island, helped to open. Hermione was the exception. Without a flu network near her home, she ended up serving as a guinea pig to test the first portkeys created by Bridget.

Hermione's integration into the group was a bit tense at first, especially between her and Daphne, but Harry, Astoria and Luna struggled to keep their good moods and, gradually, the situation subsided and the results began to appear.

The first of these occurred in Arithmancy. With the crystal sheets provided by Gringotts, they soon had six IBM PCs running Ethernet on the Island doing all sorts of service, from simple storage of information to the first programs they developed for Arithmancy. A major problem with this age-old art is that solutions were often achieved by solving what muggle math called infinite series of slow convergence. This was nothing more than an endless sum of fractions each one slightly smaller than the previous one. Solving one of them manually could take weeks or months of boring calculations (and always subject to errors).

To deal with these endless sums, some methods and tricks had been developed in the magical world, but they had one of two problems: those who gave a precise answer were rare and applicable only to very specific situations; while those that applied to more general situations could be terribly imprecise.

With the help of computers the group was able to take the calculations to much greater accuracy, obtaining better results, and even overcoming insurmountable difficulties for human calculations. Already in the first spell they examined, the famous 'Wingardium Leviosa', they found that by keeping the wand movement but changing the incantation to 'Ducit Ascendet', equivalent to 'go up smoothly', they obtained much greater control with much less effort. This discovery gave rise to a project to review all the spells they learned at Hogwarts in search of better alternatives.

-o0o-

The group was happy to discover that the telepathic capacity they were acquiring was not influenced by distance, at least to the extent they could currently test it. From Devon to the Highlands, a little concentration was enough for them to get the connection working. And it was a gift that it needed some concentration to 'turn on' the process, or soon they would be confused, with dozens of thoughts simultaneously popping into their minds without them being able to control the process.

Daphne and Harry were worried about Snape and Dumbledore's ability in Legilimency, and had been working on Lily's notes on a new method of protection. It was not Occlumency. Occlumency was a difficult discipline, which took time to be acquired and brought several secondary outcomes, such as better memory and greater emotional control. Lily's method consisted of a potion and a small golden blade (10 by 4 mm) filled with runes that were to be placed between the meninges of the person to be protected, and therein lay the difficulty and danger of the method. Meninges are three membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord protecting them from friction against the bones of the skull and other organs, and all care is little in dealing with them.

They already had the potion and several blades ready; the difficulty now was to convince Trisha to install them. The girl was excellent with medical spells, but even after successfully completing the process on six pigs (in fact, furniture transfigured for the test), she was still unsure to perform the procedure on her friends.

-o0o-

Speaking of Daphne, she had many problems controlling and saving her younger sister from serious trouble on Wednesday after the birthdays party. At great cost she was able to make up an excuse and push her sister up the stairs to her room.

"Tori! You almost put everything to waste! Falling in laughter in front of Dad would be almost a death sentence for us!"

"I'm sorry, but the face he made when he read the news in the paper and find out its Potter who is Black's heir!" She added before she laughed again. Her sister tried to remain serious, but she could not resist and also laughed heartily.

"After all that seriousness and pomp on Monday night when he called you to his office to tell you about the proposal ..." Daphne commented, laughing to tears.

"The union of our family with two of the most prestigious British magical lineages..." Tori said imitating his father's voice.

They both laughed a little longer, remembering the happiness of their father thinking he was signing his daughter's engagement to Draco Malfoy at Lord Black's initiative when Lucius had refused Cyrus' proposal a few years ago, thinking he could get a better deal for his son. Cyrus had taken that refusal as an offense to the lineage of his family and thought he was getting revenge now, until the headline of The Daily Prophet made it clear that Sirius Black had made his godson Harry Potter his heir. The Greengrass patriarch didn't know about this relationship, and never thought that the Black's heir might be other than Draco, Narcissa's son.

"He did not suspect anything ... Using 'my heir' instead of Harry's name on the contract was a stroke of genius. Dad was only thinking about his chance to get revenge on Lucius," said Daphne.

"It suits him," said Astoria with venom. "He did not even ask my opinion on the proposal, just tried to convince me that it would be for the good of the family and that I should be proud and happy. Proud and happy with Draco? Frankly!"

"Do not you want to tell your recent adventures to your fiancé?" Daphne asked her sister.

"Hey! I'm engaged! How could I forget that!" replied Tori. Trimming her posture and feigning seriousness, she asked Daphne, "Do you think I should play the role of a discreet and well-behaved bride?"

"You? Discreet and well behaved? Maybe you can, for about five or six seconds ..."

Proving that Daphne was correct, Tori showed her tongue, then asked, "When do you think we can go back to the Island? Mirrors and telepathy help, but I want to ride my bike and try those new games and ..."

"... and celebrate the engagement with a good snog with the bridegroom?" Daphne finished, running to escape the pillows Astoria was throwing at her.

-o0o-

Fortunately, for the Greengrass' girls, but not for their parents, Cyrus was so embarrassed by the misconception and so annoyed by the letters that accused him of selling the purity of his lineage by accepting a half-blood as a pair for his youngest that he decided to leave the country again with his wife. He gave the girls the chance to accompany them or stay. Two days later the adults were again abroad and the girls on Potter Island.

After a calming potion Trisha finally did the anti-Legilimency procedure on Harry. As the boy showed no adverse reaction other than a small sensation of pressure in his skull within the first three hours after the intervention, the next day the others, including Neville, who got permission from his grandmother to visit the Island with some frequency, began to pass through the same process. Unfortunately the Weasleys would have to wait for the meeting at Hogwarts to benefit.

The unspeakable who had checked the Horcrux on Harry returned to meet the boy at the Greengrass Mansion two more times for further testing. Harry chose not to reveal the island to anyone outside the group, and the mansion was empty and already known to the man. Unfortunately progress in this area was very slow. The unspeakable simply said he did not expect results before Christmas, at least. Their line of research was to weaken the bond of the soul fragment with Harry, then transfer the fragment to another object and destroy it. Hermione was leading a research on Harry's horcrux, and the boy was sure she would succeed before the unspeakable.

-o0o-

Barty Crouch Jr. did not believe in his luck. Since less than two months ago when he had finally overcome the Imperius spell his father had reapplied on him every morning for years, he had promised that he would do everything possible to return to the services of his beloved Dark Lord as soon as possible. Now it was just a matter of taking it easy and soon he would be free to pursue his goals.

Junior had used Winky to persuade his father to let him watch the Quidditch Cup Final. It was a crazy plan, with little chance of success. It was obvious that his father would be too busy to watch over him. The place would be filled with wizards and witches from all over the world, a real chaos where he could easily disappear in seconds. And just the little elf to guard him? His father really should have been thinking of other things when he agreed to that crazy idea.

The presence of veelas as mascots of the Bulgarian team helped a lot. That redheaded boy in front of him was totally fascinated by the presence of these creatures and did not notice when Junior took possession of his wand, carelessly tucked away in the back pocket of his pants. Winky was so afraid of heights she kept her eyes closed for the whole game, making Junior's action easier.

Surrounded by the forest at the top of the hill where he had gone when some disturbance started among the fans, Junior looked down into the sea of coloured tents to see what was happening. To his surprise, he noted that this was not a fight between fans, but a pack of Death Eaters in full dress, playing with the Muggle family who ran the place and causing chaos setting fire to the tents on their way.

His blood heated, and hatred took over the young man. He and so many other faithful servants of his master had perished in service or were imprisoned in Azkaban, while those below, coward traitors, denied their master at the first sign of danger and bought their freedom with gold, ragged excuses and feigned repentance. Junior despised them for the soft talk full of lies, the pride they showed for their incestuous lineage, the superiority they felt for bearing a surname they thought to be almost noble, despite so much mud and blood in which they were sunk.

For a moment Junior thought of acting impulsively in a way that could jeopardize his plans, but would give those traitors of the cause a great fright: casting to the skies the mark of their Lord and Master. What held him back was not his temperance, non-existent of course, but the events that followed.

First Junior saw the four Muggles suspended in the air disappeared, as if they had disapparated. Then fire fell upon the Death Eaters from the rear as a gigantic blade came from across the alley where they walked, separating the upper and lower parts of their bodies. A slaughter like the young but experienced Death Eater had never seen before!

Surprised, confused, and frightened by the sanguine spectacle, Junior acted on instinct, stunning the accompanying elf and apparating away.

-o0o-

Bridget was the last to cross the portal that she had opened at the site of the Quidditch Cup Final and nodded to Maebh, both cancelling the spell and portal that had brought the group that participated in the attack on the Death Eaters back to Potter Island. Now it was to commemorate the success of the attack and the absence of even a scratch among the participants.

"As expected, the group had just over a dozen individuals," Harry began the story to those who had not participated in the attack. They had divided into three groups: one, uninterested in Quidditch, had remained on the island; the second had watched the game but had returned through the portal opened by Bridget and Maebh shortly after the end, while the third was left to confront the Death Eaters.

"The cowards began by attacking the Muggle family who lived in the place: father, mother and a couple of children. They kept the family suspended several feet above the ground, playing with the terror their victims felt. Bridget created touch-triggered portkeys, which four of us then directed to the family's members. With the Muggles safe, Katie flew behind them and tossed our 'bomb' at the Death Eater group, turning to the side as soon as the throw was completed. Someone among the Death Eaters thought it a good idea to cast a Reducto spell against the ball. The explosion was incredible, and a huge fireball ran toward them, consuming everything on the way."

Harry paused and beckoned to Hestia, who concluded the account: "The spell of the great blade worked very well! While the rear personnel freed the family, we prepared the blade as we had trained. Three of us suspended large stones that the others then turned into blades that came together into one. Harry then kept the blade suspended hip-high in the air, while the rest of us joined efforts to make it fly forward at great speed. Then it was just a matter of apparating to the portal Bridget had opened and coming back here. I doubt any Death Eater survived."

-o0o-

Far away from there a frightened lady Nott woke up with the cries of her son Theodore warning that the house was on fire. Covering herself in a robe, she hurried to her daughter's bedroom while shouting for her son to find her there. Grabbing her two children by the arms, she apparated to the safety of her mother's house.

When the Muggle family disappeared mysteriously from above, Mr Nott was worried. Courage was not his forte, though he preferred to be called a good survivor to coward. When he realized that something or someone was attacking them from behind, he stopped being interested in the little game organized by Lucius and apparated immediately to his house. Unfortunately, only its upper half reached his magnificent library, and it was on fire that soon spread through the expensive Persian tapestry and the richly ornate volumes.

-o0o-

Only one other Death Eater had been sober and alert enough to also apparate away from the carnage that the Potter group had organized. Lucius Malfoy had escaped from the blade that had cut off his friend Nott in front of him by a miracle, and he was lucky to get whole and with his wand in his hand ready to act as he landed in his studio.

Between an 'Aguamenti' spell and another, trying to extinguish the fire that had taken the left side of his body, Lucius still managed to summon his remaining two elves to seek for help before losing his senses.

His recovery would be slow and only partial. The injured leg and arm would have reduced mobility for the rest of his life, and would keep the scars from the heat to which they were subjected. But the worst was his face. The healer who answered the call managed to take the right half of the mask, but did not dare to try anything with the left half. The metal of the mask had fused to the flesh of his face in such a way that there was no safe way to separate them. With half face permanently covered by a Death Eater mask, his chances of maintaining his influence in magical government have dropped dramatically.

-o0o-

The biggest problem with a potion as explosive and incendiary as the one Lily had created was trying to recognize the victims. That they were wearing the paraphernalia typical of the Death Eaters was attested more by the witnesses rather than by the vestiges of the masks. From the physiognomy of those involved or their garments nothing remained.

The Daily Prophet more confused than explained things. Unaware of binary potions and collective spells, Rita Skeeter, the lead reporter for that publication, decided to invent a story about a powerful and unknown descendant of Merlin who lived overseas and had come to watch the game. Seeing his tent being burned, with only three overpowered spells (Bombarda, Incendio and Diffindo), he would have avenged himself from the attackers so drastically before disappearing again.

As for the possible Death Eaters, The Daily Prophet's reporters began a quest on the right track, investigating the names of those accused of being part of the group but who had been released on allegation of being under the Imperious curse. However, when they received a response from Lucius Malfoy's own fist and found that Mr Nott had died in a fire at his residence rather than the Quidditch pitch, they thought they were on the wrong lane and abandoned the investigation.

That's when The Quibbler scored another point over his rival. Xenophilius took advantage of his good relationship with the Goblins of Gringotts, soliciting and receiving from them the list of all the wills activated that night. It was enough to take out the name of the old lady Cornfield, who died at St. Mungos, and the rest was the exact list of the Death Eaters surprised by the group, published in The Quibbler the following day, while The Prophet had not yet confirmed a single name among the victims.

As expected, the Carrow twins did not shed a single tear when they discovered themselves orphans; on the contrary, they seemed to be very happy with the situation. The group's support to the attackers was total, and none of them went into depression for thinking themselves killers. Whenever the subject arose, someone soon made everyone remember how many innocent lives would be spared by that act. The only setback to the attack was that Albus and Molly used it as an excuse to return to the charge of Harry's safety, sending new letters to the boy and his godfather.

-o0o-

Cyrus and his wife returned to the Greengrass mansion shortly after the attack, but their daughters simply ignored their parents' presence by claiming multiple invitations for overnights in friends' houses.

Gradually the group began to prepare for the return to Hogwarts, except for Maebh and Bridget, who formed the previous year. The two of them would live on the Island and take care to keep it in order in exchange for the opportunity to enjoy the immense library and new accommodations of the place.

Luna did an excellent negotiation with the basilisk carcass that the goblins would recover as soon as Harry returned to Hogwarts. The final value was still uncertain, as it would depend on the available quantities of the various components to be sold, but the value per pound of venom, meat and organs, and per square foot of leather, was 70% of the market value, well above the 50% which they hoped to obtain initially.

Ironclaw had still secured for Harry four 40-foot containers filled with World War II German weapons and ammunition, which had ended up in the goblins' hand as part of the payment of a debt incurred during the fight against Grindelwald. Though ancient to the current Muggle standard, those weapons were unknown to most wizards and left for a pittance. As the goblins received the weapons based on the price of the iron, even Ironclaw charging three times more for Harry, the group got more than they needed for far less than they expected to pay. Harry had been especially interested in the three 88mm Flak 41 guns that came together. Capable of 15 to 20 shots per minute, they could hit targets 14km away in the ground or up to 8km in the air, being efficient against airplanes, tanks and unarmoured vessels.

-o0o-

"I got a copy of Filch's list of forbidden items," Morag said excitedly. "Bicycles are not part of it!"

"Neither most of the games we want to take!" Tracy completed. "And if we are careful, he will not know anything of them!"

"It's okay about the games, but how to keep bikes a secret?" Victoria asked, worried she might lose her new favourite toy.

"You cannot hide the bikes, since we'll be riding on the Hogwarts fields, in plain sight..." Susan explained, adding "... but Filch will only be able to update his list next summer, and by then we'll have at least a year to use them."

"Do you think we could convince the teachers not to let Filch ban the bikes?" Victoria asked, still worried.

"I think the teachers have no right to interfere, except McGonagall, as deputy headmistress, and Dumbledore," Susan replied.

"Oh, Merlin! Few chances we can use them next year," Victoria concluded, already taking defeat.

"Hey, Vic, even if they ban bikes, I'm sure Filch will not remember to include motorcycles," Morag interjected, making little Victoria's eyes shine and a big smile to form on her face.


	10. 10 Back to Hogwarts

_**A/N:**_ _My thanks to JohnyXD for pointing my mistake placing Riddle's manor in Little Whinging instead of Little Hangleton. It is now corrected._

 **CHAPTER 10 – Back at Hogwarts**

Harry still had to return once more to the Greengrass mansion, taking advantage of another absence of the house owners, to deal with a matter raised by Daphne in a meeting of the group. Daphne herself led the two visitors into the living room where Harry waited, and introduced them before they all sat down.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll get right to the point." the still young and handsome Mrs Parkinson opened the conversation. Receiving an affirmative nod from Daphne and Harry, she went on: "My husband was not a good man, but he was a good father and husband. There was no love in our relationship, but neither was it a relationship of hatred, sadness, or disappointment. My daughter and I have always been treated with a minimum of dignity that many other women connected to the Death Eaters have never received. Primarily, we were never forced to take a stand on these issues of purity, power, and politics. But with Patrick's death this has all changed. He was the last man of his lineage, and he accumulated considerable wealth, expanding the family business."

"I presume the pressures have already begun, even so shortly after your husband's death," commented Daphne.

"Oh, yeah. The Parkinson family is available, with all its wealth and its hereditary seat in the Wizengamot. Just marry the widow to take possession of everything. And see, the widow has barely completed thirty-three years, is not so old, and is not so frightening to look at!" replied Belinda Parkinson with obvious sarcasm.

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Daphne had asked him to listen to Mrs Parkinson's request carefully and unprejudiced, but that conversation about marriage made him worried.

"How could we help you, Mrs Parkinson?" he asked, wanting to discover as soon as possible what was expected of him.

"My residence is safe, and I have the means to live well for the rest of my life and many other lives. It's Pansy that worries me. Slytherin has never been an easy place to live, and with so many newly-orphaned boys who are still too young taking over the head of their families, I fear that some of them will try a move on my daughter."

Daphne and Harry exchanged a long look, and some thoughts, coming to a quick conclusion. Harry then addressed the hitherto silent Pansy: "Pansy, I can protect you at Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, provided you are willing to cooperate. It would be impossible to do it if it is against your will."

"How much of my freedom will I have to give up for this protection?" she asked in a neutral tone, which pleased her two classmates. Pansy was at least open to dialogue; otherwise she would be behaving with her usual superiority.

"If you can stay close to one of your roommates most of the time, and tell one of them where you will be when you need privacy, I think that would be enough," Harry replied.

"Do I have to put up with you or one of your Gryffindor friends following me everywhere?" Pansy asked again, amazed at how little the boy was asking.

"No, of course not. But if any danger arises, then one of my friends will intervene, for sure. In these, I hope rare, opportunities I will need you to cooperate with us."

Before Pansy could think of anything else, her mother returned to the conversation: "Under these conditions, Mr Potter, could you guarantee my daughter's safety? For the four years until her graduation?"

"I can do my best, and I think it will be enough. I am willing to take a magical oath in that regard."

"Such confidence!" commented Belinda before reaching the climax of the negotiation. "And what would be the price for that protection?"

"Unrestricted access to the library of the Parkinson family to make a copy for our collection," the boy replied immediately.

Mrs Parkinson was surprised by the answer. She expected to have to negotiate a high sum and perhaps some favours, such as temporarily lending their seat in Wizengamot. She did not value the books she had just inherited, and she would have given them to the boy if he asked. That he wanted only to copy them was something that would not affect her. It was like getting the protection she wanted for her daughter for free! She immediately agreed, and would wait for a contact from the Carrow twins for a future visit to the Parkinson's mansion.

-o0o-

Back on the island, the group received the news very well about the agreement with Mrs Parkinson. But not only Harry had news.

"The protection will be much easier with this," said Morag, giving the two newcomers a parchment for each.

Daphne looked curiously at the blank parchment she had received, but Harry immediately realized what it was all about: "Did you do it, then? Duplicated the Marauders' map?"

"Oh yeah! It was a very interesting challenge, and it will help us a lot in the castle. We create one for each member of the group and a few more as reserve. If something unusual happens this year, we'll be ready!"

"We also have a surprise!" Bridget said, bringing Trisha with her.

"We found the Riddle's residence. It's in Little Hangleton," Bridget finished.

"The cemetery is nearby. It was easy to find the tomb of Voldemort's father and grandparents," Trisha explained. "They were the newest and most elaborate of the place. Now the three of them are resting in another, simpler place. We left a surprise if Voldemort wanted their bones for some nefarious ritual."

"Do not leave me in suspense, woman," Harry asked. "What did you do?"

"We used sheep bones that we took in a slaughterhouse nearby, properly transfigured to look like humans," Trisha replied. "Ever thought of a Voldemort covered in fluffy white wool? Maybe we could convince him to use a little bell tied around his neck?"

-o0o-

"Oh, Severus, thank you for coming. We need to talk a little. Sit down, please" Albus received his Potions Master in his Hogwarts' office.

"What can I do for you, Albus?"

"It's about your behaviour toward young Harry, Severus."

"This boy is already over-pampered by everyone here, Albus. I refuse to treat him like the prince he claims to be. I will not make any concessions in this point!"

"I do not want you to do it, my friend. In fact, I really think maybe a tougher treatment on your part is just what young Harry is needing right now. "

Snape looked intently at the old wizard, studying him closely. Of course he was interested in the opportunity to treat Potter as he deserved to be treated, but there was something hidden there that left him with one foot behind.

"Why such a sudden change, Albus?"

"Well, you certainly heard of the terrible tragedy in the Quidditch Cup and how, if the information published in The Quibbler is correct, it directly affects several of your students..."

"As far as I could check the information in The Quibbler is correct. Any news about potential culprits?"

"Nothing, except it was the work of a group of people, not a single super wizard as Rita Skeeter wanted. Because of the speed and efficiency of the attack on the Death Eaters, it was sure premeditated, which indicates that this group had time to plan measures to escape witness observation."

"It's going to be a difficult year in Slytherin. Using Potter to lighten a little the mood can help, but what exactly do you expect to achieve with it?"

"I need to gain the boy's attention and confidence. All these half-truths and misguided interpretations of facts in my past that came to the surface did much damage to my image. I lost my posts at the Wizengamot and the International Confederation, and I lost the trust of Harry and Sirius. I can spend some time without the first two, but it is crucial that I regain the last two as soon as possible."

"So your plan is for me to be the evil teacher so you can get close to the boy as the good headmaster who solves everything ... Trivial, but with Potter it should work without problems."

"So, my friend, can I count on your help?"

"Maybe I can be persuaded to help you. Exactly how far can I go against Potter?"

-o0o-

"Hey, what are all these guys doing in our compartment, Harry?" came in already questioning Ron Weasley, one of the last students to board the Express, as tradition dictates.

"Actually the compartment is Susan's and Hannah's. They invited Hermione and I to join them," Harry replied as calmly as he could.

"What happened to that mirror you gave me? It doesn't work!" complained the redhead.

"As I explained in my letter, I broke mine ..." began to explain Harry until interrupted again by Ron.

"Hey! What is this Slytherin doing next to you? Harry, you cannot trust them, they're all venomous snakes!" Ron said pointing at Astoria, sitting next to his friend.

"Didn't you read the newspaper during the holidays, Ronald? Astoria and Harry are engaged," asked Hermione this time, angry at the ex-friend's insensitivity.

"I read about it! But she is engaged to the heir of the Blacks, that's what the headline said..." explained the redhead until he stopped to think for a moment. "Hey, don't tell me that Harry is the Black's heir!" Already taken by jealousy, the redhead turned to Harry and said, "Don't tell me that besides being an heir to the Potters' fortune, you will inherit the fortune of the Blacks too? Aren't you ever going to be satisfied, Potter? Too bad you will not be able to enjoy all this much with a filthy snake as a bride! There's no room here for me, I'm going to look for the boys. Find me when you're ready to apologize for all these shenanigans, Potter!" he finished before marching off in annoyance.

Astoria summed up the situation with a question for Harry and Hermione: "Help me to remember. What was the reason you believed him to be a friend?"

-o0o-

Blaise Zabini prided himself on his power of observation, his attention to details and his logical reasoning ability, three important qualities in the magical world because of their rarity. Today, these three qualities were united giving him a simple message: "DANGER! ATTENTION!"

From the window of his compartment, where he was already installed in the company of Millicent Bulstrode and Lilith Moon, he saw when the two other people he hoped to join them arrived: Tracy Davies and Daphne Greengrass. That Daphne's younger sister was not with them was a surprise; that Pansy Parkinson was, a much larger one.

The three entered the compartment greeting those already present more amicably than usual, which was another warning signal in Pansy's case. She had always been courteous to her colleagues, but never friendly.

The way the girls finally settled in also made the boy curious. He usually occupied a space near the window with Tracy at his side and Daphne beside her. Millicent and Lilith would occupy the other bench, each at one end. Today, for some reason, these two were on his bench, while Pansy was surrounded by Tracy and Daphne in the other.

Everyone knows girls always go to the bathroom in groups... except today with his companions. Half the trip had passed, and Pansy had not gotten up once, while the others seemed to be taking turns outside the cabin, one at a time, and taking a long time outside.

In fact, this was another point that did not escape Zabini's observations. There was an endless procession of girls passing through their compartment all the time. Some movement was expected at the beginning and near the end of the trip, but little during it. Today the movement was above normal during the whole trip.

"Okay, how about somebody tell me what's going on?" He finally asked as Daphne returned from another walk, her third in less than an hour.

The hand that Daphne lifted prevented the other girls from starting a round of denials and dissimulations. The blonde studied him for a few moments before asking, "Are you really interested to know, Zabini? Interested to the point of taking a magical oath of secrecy?"

"Really?" he said as he thought of a more appropriate response. "If only I knew that it was really something important ..."

"Just the future of the whole magical world," answered Daphne, enjoying the shock her response had caused to the boy.

-o0o-

"Alastor Moody sent his greetings to the group for the idea of how to neutralize the most dangerous prisoners of Azkaban. The idea was successfully implemented, and only Moody, Aunt Amelia, and the person in charge of the prison, who is an old friend of the family, know the secret" Susan explained to Harry during the trip.

"With this tournament taking place at Hogwarts this year, it will be a pleasure to have Moody around, although I'm afraid how much he'll require of us in his classes," commented Harry.

"Harry, you should be glad we have a demanding teacher!" interrupted Hermione. "We should strive to learn as much as we can!"

"Hermione, you do not know Moody. You will discover that there are more and less painful means of learning, and that our new teacher favours the most painful ones," replied Harry.

"It's true, Hermione. I've known Moody since childhood. We will discover all our limits because he will be constantly demanding more than we can do," explained Susan. "I feel sorry for whoever tries to take his classes without dedication."

-o0o-

"What do we have here?" asked a voice at the door of Harry's compartment. "Oh, Merlin, it's Scarhead and his bunch of fans. That's nasty!"

"I pity those who cannot appreciate the female company, Malfoy. But even for those who prefer to play on the other team, Crabbe and Goyle, Dragirl? Seriously? Even you could do better than that, don't you?"

-o0o-

"I never thought anyone as pale as Malfoy could blush so fast!" Harry commented to the group.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Harry Potter kept his cool to beat the platinum boy at his own game instead of going for physical aggression," Hermione smiled at her friend.

"Living and learning. The new Harry will not be a push-over, but neither will he fall like a duckling in any childish provocation."

-o0o-

"No, Dumbledore, there is no reason why my godson should have to be in your presence alone. You have my floo address if you need it, and Minerva can take care of all the simpler cases," Sirius told the old wizard.

"Be reasonable, Sirius. There is no reason for me to be deprived of contact with my students..."

"Dumbledore, you've always been away from the students. If it were not for the pranks, the marauders would not have had so much contact with you. Most of the other students have never been to your office or exchanged a word with you personally! There's no reason to be different with Harry."

"Sirius, there's plenty of reason to be different with young Harry..."

"Reasons you refuse to disclose!"

"I have my reasons to keep it a secret! You should trust me..."

"And let Harry serve as a slave to whom now, after the Dursleys? Frankly, Albus, what an abysmal decision!"

"It was the best for young Harry at that moment! I do not see how you cannot understand the situation we were in..."

"Enough! I will not waste time arguing with you. It's useless! Here is the official DMLE document. If you want to speak to my godson personally, you can only do it in my presence! You're warned, Albus. If you disobey this official order I will use all the rigor of the law against you! Take care!"

-o0o-

Blaise watched in fascination the hustle and bustle in the Great Hall before the great school-opening party, amazed that his Slytherin companions not included in the great secret didn't notice anything strange. Harry and his Know-It-All friend, for example, were not in their usual spot at the centre of the Gryffindor table, but at the end near the teachers' table. It was obvious that the golden trio no longer included the red-headed glutton, and that the two were prepared to co-opt the entrants as soon as they were selected in the house of red and gold.

Looking at the other tables, it was clear that the same would occur in all of them. Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott in Hufflepuff, Morag Mac-Some-Thing, and the Chinese girl in Ravenclaw and Lilith, Daphne, Tracy, and Pansy in Slytherin itself were in a similar position.

At least the unusual position of the Slytherin girls and the presence of Pansy between them had caught the attention of some of his companions, though not for the right reasons. From the comments of the older students Blaise was able to hear, the reason for Pansy's presence with her roommates was clear: protection.

Those fools were thinking that Pansy's protection was limited to those girls! They were going to suffer a rude and painful surprise when they discovered that Potter and apparently half of the school were also involved.

-o0o-

The party ran with some surprises, as was always the case at Hogwarts. Ron Weasley surprised everyone by screaming against the cancellation of Quidditch games. And yet, this time he had a reason: why cancel the games if a single Hogwarts student would be involved in the competition and in just three days of the year?

To show how well the government was able to keep secrets, few students were surprised by the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament, and most of them were Muggle-born.

But what really surprised the group was the behaviour of Alastor Moody, the new Defence teacher, arriving late and ignoring the students that knew him, except for Harry, whom he looked at as if seeing him for the first time.

It was good that teachers liked to keep some distance from the students so they could exercise their authority, but Alastor acting like that was a surprise. And arriving late? He would always arrive hours before anyone at any meeting, to make sure to the exhaustion that no trap or ambush awaited him.

-o0o-

Early the next morning, Harry had to intervene against five sixth-year students of Slytherin, who thought it would be easy to ambush the fourth-year girls of their house on the way to breakfast. Daphne had discovered about the ambush through her copy of the Marauders' map and contacted Harry telepathically. With help from Hermione, Neville, Fay and Katy, Harry disarm the attackers and, complying with Hermione's request, was gentle this first first time as a warning. The five just suffered the embarrassment of entering the Great Hall naked and screaming about the plan to attack the girls in the busy peak of breakfast. As expected, a public confession of attempted rape and attack against minors was punished with the utmost rigor of ten points and a night of detention for each. Yes, sure, extreme rigor. But the signal was given to the other students that Pansy would not be an easy target.

-o0o-

That same night the group's nucleus gathered in an abandoned fifth-floor classroom for an urgent discussion.

"The map showed the name of Alastor Moody all day in the teacher's bedroom. The one who taught at his place was Alastor-like in appearance, but was shown on the map as 'Barty Crouch,'" explained Hermione.

"Bartemius Crouch is a high-ranking official in the magical government, currently leading the Department of International Cooperation," explained Susan. "I checked with Aunt Amelia, and he was at the Ministry all day."

"I researched the Crouch family. Bartemius Crouch had a single son, whom he named Junior. He was arrested in 1981 for being one of the Death Eaters who attacked Neville's parents." Lisa told the others then looked at poor Neville, who was visibly altered.

"Barty Crouch Junior allegedly died in prison in 1986. If he somehow forged his death to escape the prison and is actually teaching here at Hogwarts at Moody's place, I want a chance at revenge for what he did to my parents" declared the usually quiet and peaceful boy.

"Then you'll train with me," said Harry. "We have to think about how we will make the confrontation. Susan, it would be good if your aunt brought some aurors with her during one of the meals. It may be a bit dangerous to face the fake Moody with so many students around, but close to half of them will be on our side, and the teachers will help contain him. We need to make his capture a public fact, so we make sure the facts are not hidden behind tips and lies."

"Oh, Daddy will love it! Another thing to blame Dumbledore for. Not enough one Death Eater as a teacher, but two!" said Luna, already planning the article that she would write for The Quibbler.

"Well, it's another wrong thing at Hogwarts that Dumbledore should have noticed and corrected quickly, but he didn't," commented Harry dismayed.

"Do you think Crouch Junior is the servant mentioned in the second prophecy?" Astoria asked.

"Yes, and we know where Voldemort is," Harry replied. "Maebh confirmed yesterday in the mirror that the runic ward of activity detection that she set up around the Riddle mansion was activated when we was on the Express, and has been showing continuous activity ever since."

"Are you planning on attacking the mansion, Harry?" Daphne asked, apprehensive of the danger that such action would place any participants.

"Not for now. We need more information, watch the place for a few days maybe ..." Harry replied.

"I had an idea!" Astoria exclaimed suddenly, surprising the group. "Why we do not use some communication mirrors around the Riddle mansion? Dobby could install the mirrors for us. House elves are excellent when it comes to being unnoticed."

"Great idea, Tori! I'm going to talk to Dobby. Meanwhile, get in touch with the girls on the Island and ask them to prepare the mirrors. I think we have some spares," Harry confirmed.

"We will have to warn every one of the danger, and for anyone to avoid act suspiciously, so that Crouch Junior does not discover that his secret has been discovered," concluded Daphne.

-o0o-

"Hey, Harry, look at this here!" Susan called as she saw the boy enter the Great Hall for breakfast.

"What is interesting about the Prophet today, Susan?" asked Harry curiously as he walked to Hufflepuff's table.

"It seems that the protections that Dumbledore placed in your relatives' house ceased to function, and a true pilgrimage was formed to visit them," Susan replied, handing Harry her copy of the newspaper.

The photo on the front page showed the Dursleys' house with an angry Vernon trying to scare the wizards and witches with a cricket bat while Petunia, with a startled expression, was embarrassed by the scene and what the neighbours would think.

-o0o-

Harry had not expected anything good from his first Potions class, but even in his worst nightmares he could not imagine Snape attacking him with such vehemence and fury.

"... if you want an example of what not to do, just look at Potter ..."

"Potter, if you want to finish this potion you still have to work with some efficiency ..."

"I said indigo blue, Potter, this is almost a cobalt blue. Have not you learned colours yet?"

"Like the father, unable to obey even the simplest instructions ..."

"Fame and pride will not help you complete the potion, Potter ..."

"With that lack of ability, you should not have left first year, Potter!"

"Do you call this garbage a potion, Potter? It would poison anyone who tried it!"

One hour! An entire hour of continuous verbal abuse! Snape had never been so mean before, what would have happened?

The girls really tried to help. Daphne and Tracy alerted the whole group as soon as they realized what was happening. The teacher's intention was clear: to take Harry to the point of retaliating, so that he could punish him even more. Maybe detentions? It would be a way to have Harry at his mercy without witnesses. They had to avoid it at all costs, and they were bombarding the boy with stimulating words, images to distract him, everything they could use ... Harry could not help but admire the image Susan had sent him from the bath that the little redhead had taken that morning. The boy had never imagined that such sizes and shapes could be hidden under so little cloth!

But it was not enough. An entire hour! And they still had another hour ahead of them! Damn double class!

Daphne realized Harry could not stand it. Merlin, she could not bear it herself! It was then that an idea occurred to the blonde, and she immediately suggested Harry to try.

The boy-who-lived waited for the next offense. It did not take too long.

"You need to understand that the easy days are gone, Potter. If you want to progress to your fifth year, you'll have to do for deserving it. This attempt..."

As soon as Snape started talking, Harry looked him straight in the eye, something he had avoided doing so far so as not to increase the tension between them. A second later he began to feel the gold blade embedded in the middle of his forehead vibrating gently, indicating an on-going legilimency attack. Leaving his hands in plain sight, Harry concentrated as if casting a spell, only that he sent his magic to the blade, not to his right hand. The effect was immediate, and much better than he expected. There was a sharp but rapid pain in his forehead, like a sting, and Snape fell to the ground, unconscious, like a suddenly abandoned puppet.


	11. 11 Hogwarts is no longer the same

**CHAPTER 11 – Hogwarts is no long the same**

Albus Dumbledore entered the Hospital Wing trying to figure out what might have gone wrong with his plan. He had just passed the potions lab where he had trouble ignoring students' protests against how Severus had verbally abused young Harry for an entire hour before collapsing in the middle of the class for no apparent reason. Even the greatest antagonists of the boy-who-lived, Draco Malfoy and his loyal followers agreed that Harry's hands were visible on the table and he never drew his wand.

"Albus! Tell me you've already punished that brat!" Snape snapped as he entered.

"Not yet, my friend. I need more details about what happened. Details your students could not provide."

"Details? Potter attacked me! What other details do you need?"

"The shape of the attack, for example, since even young Draco confirms that Harry never used his wand against you at all."

"I ... I do not remember very well ... Potter was very different from what I expected. Like his father, he always had a short temper. A few taunts and he should have reacted, and then he would get the detentions I needed to give him. After all, there are limits to what I can do in front of so many witnesses. I wanted him alone with me one night, then he would suffer what he deserved..."

"He did not react? An hour of constant taunts and he kept his cool?"

"Oh, he did not keep it that good! I could see in his eyes the anger he was feeling, could see in the way his muscles were tense how much he wanted to jump on me... But he restrained himself ... Every time I thought 'now it comes' something changed in his physiognomy and he could resist a little more..."

"Do you think young Harry received training at Occlumency during the holidays?"

"No way! It was not occlumency. And Potter learning something so complex during the holidays? Absurd! He would not have been able to get past the first exercise in such a short time. It was something different... Very different..."

"In what sense?"

"When I tried legilimency against him to find out how he was controlling himself, it was not a shield that stopped me, but something gummy, sticky... I felt like a doxy trapped in the pus of bubotuber. I couldn't go forward or backward. And then, simply nothing! I faint as if I had received a stupefy spell."

"Strange, really strange. Even the strongest amulets, such as the heads of house's rings, are not capable of anything like this. They only vibrate indicating the attack, but only offer a very weak shield as protection. Maybe we should study young Harry before we can try another attack. Anyway, the fact that a teacher has needed medical attention is enough to summon the boy for clarification, even if I have to obey the demand to have Sirius also present."

-o0o-

"Hey, Harry! Why did you miss Divination yesterday? It was boring without you there to talk," Ron asked as he saw his friend entering into the common room.

"I did not miss it. I left Divination to be able to do Runes and Arithmancy."

"What! Got crazy? Divination is so much easier!"

"And totally useless to me, while Runes and Arithmancy have several important practical applications."

"But you're going to have to study a lot more! Think a little, Harry! We could use this time to have fun."

"I think it's you who needs to think a little, Ronald. What will be of you ten or twenty years from now? What kind of life would you like to be living at that time, and what do you have to do to get there?"

"Mental, you! There's plenty of time to get there, and anyway I don't need to know Runes or whatever to play Quidditch."

"Quidditch, Ronald? Is this your career? You are not even part of the team yet. And even if you get a position on some team after leaving Hogwarts, which is not easy, how long do you think you'll be in shape to play? Careers in Quidditch tend to be short, and will hardly earn you enough for the rest of your life."

"Why, Harry, what is this? I don't have to decide my whole life now! I'll think of something when it's time."

"If you don't take care of your life right away, you will discover one day that there are no more decisions to make. They were taken for you without you even noticing," concluded Harry before climbing into his bedroom, leaving Ronald alone with his game of chess.

-o0o-

"Oh, Sirius, nice to see you. And Harry, my boy, thank you for coming" received Dumbledore his two visitors in his office.

After they settled in, Sirius decided to skip the amenities, going straight to the point: "Sorry, Albus, but we all have a lot to do, so we can sum up this conversation by going straight to the point: Snape attacked my godson, a minor, verbally and by legilimency. What punishment will he receive?"

As Sirius hoped, Albus was caught off guard by the direct attack. It was certain that he would want to put Harry in the position of aggressor in this whole situation and the Marauder had disarmed the old wizard by reversing the rules of the game, putting Dumbledore on the defensive.

"Pardon? It seems that Severus was the victim..."

"I have here a statement signed by fifteen of the students present confirming that Severus Snape, a potions professor, spent the first hour of class verbally abusing my godson until, looking directly into Harry's eyes, he felt ill and fainted. A copy of these testimonies has already been deposited with the Board of Directors, who is now awaiting your opinion on the case to decide whether Snape will be fired or will only be kept under probation. Anyway, the case has also been registered with the DMLE, and here is the copy of the Mandate of Restriction that prohibits your Potions Master from approaching my godson without my presence..."

"Sirius, this is inconceivable! Severus enjoys my complete confidence and is the only teacher we have available for Harry's education in this compulsory subject! We cannot..."

"I can, and exercising my rights, hired a tutor for Harry and any of his friends who so choose. The Board of Directors has accepted my gracious offer to make his classes available to all Hogwarts students, and tomorrow Horace Slughorn will be back in Hogwarts as my employee to teach alternative classes of Potions. All students will have the freedom to choose between continuing classes with your pet Death Eater or a real teacher."

"Sirius, this is absurd! You cannot come here and interfere with my school this way!"

"Your school, Albus?"

"Just a figure of speech ..."

"Really? Your school has been a danger to students since Harry started his studies here. Trolls, dementors, animagus, acromantulas, a basilisk... even Voldemort participated, didn't he?"

"It does not matter now. What matters is that you are destroying the authority..."

"Snape destroyed his authority as a teacher by continuously abusing his to attack any student outside Slytherin!"

The moods were exalted. Luckily the two adults caught on and took a minute to calm down, breathing deeply as they exchanged looks of anger and scorn.

"I find it futile to continue trying to make you see the situation in a rational way while you are overwhelmed by intemperance and animosity," Dumbledore finally said to Sirius. "Maybe we can postpone any actions to after a new meeting, which we can set for a week from now..."

"No, Dumbledore. The restraining order against Snape is already in effect and will be observed or he will suffer the consequences. And Horace will be here tomorrow and will begin his classes on Monday, this is non-negotiable. The only decision to make is if Snape will be fired or will be in probation."

"We'll see. I will personally talk to Amelia and the Board of Directors. Of course they will be able to see the damage that these abrupt and irrational decisions will cause."

Sirius just got up, beckoned for Harry to precede him on the way out, greeted Albus with an almost imperceptible nod, and left the office with all dignity and seriousness. Hearing the door shut behind him, he dropped the pose and laughed heartily.

"Thank you, Harry! I never thought I would have the opportunity to treat this old senile wizard in this way and get away with it!"

"Thank the mirrors, Sirius. Without them there would be no time to prepare everything in advance. And Madame Bones. I bet she had the restraining order ready before you get to the Ministry, right? But how did you find a new teacher so fast?"

"Horace was the potions teacher before Snape. He loves helping promising students in return asking for little favours when they settle down in their lives. The chance to include the famous boy-who-lived among his contacts was too tempting for old Slug."

"What about the Board of Directors? How could you convince them so quickly to put Snape into probation?"

"It's for good reason that the Black family is feared, Harry. If you knew how many skeletons those old men keep in their closets! And it's all written down in detail on the documents I've inherited."

"Blackmail! Did you use blackmail against them?"

"Nothing too direct. Just a faint mention here or there. Do not worry about it, Harry. Deep down they were already aware of the situation and they just could not take action because Dumbledore uses his fame and influence to protect Snape. With the blow that Dumbledore received recently, they just took the opportunity to do what was right. After all, most of them have grandchildren or great-grandchildren studying here."

-o0o-

With the goblins of Gringotts scheduled to collect the basilisk's carcass the next morning, Sunday, Harry went down with some of the girls to the Chamber of Secrets. The intention was to make sure there was nothing of value there. It would not be pleasant to leave something of value to a lucky goblin to discover and claim possession when they had every opportunity to check the place in advance.

And they were very lucky! They found a series of secret quarters used by Salazar himself, with his personal library and a complete laboratory of potions, with many ingredients and potions of great value kept on shelves with runes carved to keep them conserved!

Apparently Salazar had returned (or never left) Hogwarts, and had spent his last years here in his Chamber of Secrets, doing research and writing his memoirs. His remains were found in his bed by his descendant Tom Riddle and buried inside a chest between the feet of the statue, as they could confirm by notes left on a table.

But Riddle's notes had much more information for them. They contained his description of the creation of his first horcrux, the diary, and how he planned to create a total of six, dividing his soul into seven pieces, a powerful magical number. And he described how he would create and where he would hide the second of them. Riddle was planning his own father's death for the creation of his second horcrux, and would use his mother's residence to hide it.

There was also speculation about other items that Voldemort found appropriate to retain part of his soul, and locations he found safe enough to guard them. They now had a starting point to begin hunting for those abominations.

Salazar's books would be a fine addition to the already immense library they were creating. But a third of the volumes were written in a runic form of the language of serpents that only Harry could read. The already overburdened boy now would also have the task of acting as a translator for that whole collection.

-o0o-

The great subject of the meeting that night was how the Slytherins of the group should position themselves in face of the alternative classes of Potions. The students of the three other houses would certainly join, with the exception of Judith O'Brian, a seventh-year student of Hufflepuff. That girl should have some serious mental problem. The students usually said that she had contracted Severitus, a strange compulsion that led the victim to find the pompous and arrogant figure of the most hated teacher in Hogwarts' history charming and elegant.

With Dumbledore's influence and prestige at an all-time low, the group was convinced that Snape's ability to retaliate was seriously affected, so the Slytherins would be encouraged to betray their head of house by opting for the new teacher. Of course not everyone would join, but it would be a big shock to that giant bat that haunted the castle's dungeons to discover that even the Slytherins didn't like him.

Anyway, Luna and Lisa had already started the operation 'Extermination of Pests' and were collecting information for an article in The Quibbler in order to force the dismissal of the greasy chief of Slytherin. What Harry didn't know yet was the method the two of them chose to get the information they need. After all, they thought, why bother the boy with this detail when he already had so much to worry about?

-o0o-

At the end of the meeting, Hermione accompanied Harry back to Gryffindor Tower, but made him stop and enter an unoccupied classroom, closing the door and putting on a privacy spell. The expression on the girl's face was too serious for Harry's comfort.

"What is it, Mi? Are you still worried about the fake Moody?"

"No, that's not it. It's about you, Harry, and about me. I ... Aff! So many changes so fast! I think I'm a bit confused… and insecure too."

Harry had always liked this in Hermione: her ability to stop and reflect, detect what was not right and try to solve the problem, even when it was not pleasant to face it. But he also knew that if he did not help her friend a little, they could lose a lot of time until she could express her feelings.

Taking a deep breath, Harry approached Hermione and wrapped her in a tender hug, trying to pass on to her friend that he was there for her and wanted to help her.

"What is troubling you, Mi? Is it something I can help with?"

That was enough to open the floodgates and Hermione began to dispel all her doubts and yearnings on her friend.

"You can. In fact, you are the main part of the problem. I mean, it's my problem, it's me... And also Ron. You've changed so much this summer! Before you contracted and avoided any physical contact... I realized, every time I hugged you I noticed your reaction. But now... You've been in direct contact with all these girls, and flirting freely, as if it was something natural, as if it had always been this way... And I thought I'd never have a chance to get close to you... So I started to get interested in Ron more... Argh! He doesn't matter! He's so lazy, and prejudiced, and ... and everything else I don't want in a boyfriend! But you seemed so unreachable, but you were exactly what I wanted... But I couldn't ... I couldn't risk forcing you and losing your friendship ... So I did nothing! And now it seems late... You have all these other girls, and even a bride, even if only on paper, but still... And you're relating so well with them all, and I'm just one more, and you didn't approach me the way I wanted you to... And I know you've been having more contact with them than I see... And I wanted too, you know? I also have my dreams, my desires, and my hormones... But I don't have any experience, I do not know how to act, I do not know how to approach you, I do not even know how to make myself aware..."

Harry interrupted her friend's confession with a long, soft kiss. Hermione sort of melted into his arms, and would not be able to stand up without his help.

"Hermione, you can have the relationship you want with me as long as you do not demand exclusivity from me. I'm not that selfish, you know. I don't want to ride a harem or anything, though I'm sure I'll be charged of it. It is just that this is all too new for me, and there are so many wonderful girls I can get to know... We're still too young to make such a serious choice now, don't you think? "

The girl replied kissing him again. Forty minutes later the two left the room holding hands. Everything was again wonderful in Hermione Jean Granger's life.

-o0o-

The next morning provided a different spectacle for the Hogwarts students. While Dumbledore pretended to be disinterested leafing through a copy of The Daily Prophet, two members of the Board of Directors of the school accompanied Horace Slughorn to the teachers' table. One of them then explained to the students that, in the face of numerous requests, Severus Snape would be going through a probationary period at the end of which they would decide whether or not he would still be a Potions teacher at Hogwarts, and that Professor Horace would be teaching alternative classes for those who so opted walking to the table and signing the list provided.

Between claps and whistles a huge line formed in front of the list. Harry was amused by the faces and mouths that Draco and his friends were doing to each Slytherin heading to sign the list. Snape spared them all from his bad mood by missing out on breakfast and lunch that day.

-o0o-

The meeting that night had a lot of news. It was Lisa Turpin who initiated the revelations.

"As you know, Luna and I started writing an article against Snape. As we did not have much information about his past, we decided that the best way to get this information would be straight from the source, so we interviewed him at dawn..."

"And he collaborated?" Hermione asked in amazement.

"As he was rushed to the infirmary, there was no time for him to seize his stock with the usual protections. We went there first and borrowed some vials, like the one of veritaserum. "

"Luna, how could you do that?" asked Hermione, in a relapse of her mania of respecting authorities, even when they were abusive or corrupt.

"It was easy. We got in, we got what we wanted and we left," the blonde replied, looking genuinely surprised that Hermione would ask a question about something so simple.

"Hermione!" interrupted Lisa before Gryffindor returned to the attack. "That ... garbage, for lack of a better word, deserves everything we can do against it. Harry, it was he who told Voldemort part of the prophecy, putting the Potters and the Longbottoms in danger!"

Harry immediately flushed with anger. But that was not all, there were much more.

"He knew your mother before they even came to Hogwarts," Luna explained. "And he had a real obsession with her. Harry, he even asked Voldemort, as a bonus for revealing the prophecy, that he spare your mother to... uh, that selfish bastard... his personal use."

Harry remained stiff and silent for some time, the girls looking at him with apprehension, until he calmly proclaimed, "I'll kill him."

There were many protests from the girls, however only Hermione opposed the teacher's death. The others were only concerned that Harry would not rush and suffer for his actions. It was Daphne who, putting the question in a Slytherin perspective, made the boy calm down and think, "Harry, dying is too fast, he deserves more! Let us destroy him first, cause him to desire his own death, prolong his suffering..."

It took some time for them to reach a consensus. The first step would be to publish the article about Snape, revealing everything they had discovered about his past, and all the evil deeds he had committed as Death Eater and as a teacher at Hogwarts, followed by pressure for him to lose his job and receive a well-deserved stay in Azkaban. An impartial jury would keep him there for the rest of his life just by the actions he had practiced or concealed at Hogwarts.

"Well, I also have some news to tell," Harry resumed after the Snape affair was adjourned. "Madame Bones has been keeping the Riddle mansion in constant vigilance through the mirrors installed by Dobby on the perimeter of the property. Unfortunately, a direct attack under the current circumstances would be problematic. Malfoy is not the only companion of Voldemort. It seems dear Lucy hired a bunch of mercenaries to help him, and the protections around the house are strong. We do not know how many mercenaries are there. According to Amelia, a minimum of fifteen, maybe even twice as much. And anyone who apparated or use a portkey has to distance himself at least 100 meters from the property. This means that an attack force would have to walk at least this distance in open and fully exposed terrain, while the mercenaries would be protected inside the mansion and with an excellent view of the surroundings."

"What about the fake Moody?" asked Morag. "Every day he stays in school is one more day when we're all in danger."

"Amelia vetoed the plan to catch him during one of the meals," Harry explained. "The distance from the entrance to the Great Hall to the teachers' table is too large. Crouch Junior would have time to notice their arrival and take some action. Anyway, in such an open place and with so many witnesses, Neville would have difficulty performing his revenge."

"Neville, are you sure ..." Hermione began to ask her colleague, but was quickly cut off.

"Yes, Hermione. You can disagree as much as you want, it's your right, but this is something I have to do, for my parents and myself."

-o0o-

That Sunday became interesting to the Hogwarts students at exactly eight o'clock in the morning, when Amelia Bones interrupted breakfast when she arrived in the Great Hall with a group of aurors.

"Ah, Madame Bones! What a pleasant surprise!" said the headmaster at the sight of her, although his expression did not confirm that the surprise was so pleasant.

"Good morning, Dumbledore. We are here to oversee the removal of a basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets of Salazar Slytherin at the request of its executor, Mr Harry Potter, as it is his right as the eliminator of the threat," she explained. "At Mr Potter's request, we arrived earlier to allow students, as well as Hogwarts staff, who are interested to visit the site and observe the creature before it is ready for transport."

For a moment Dumbledore's face showed surprise; then revealed something between worry and frustration to finally return to his traditional expression of good-humoured grandfather.

"Yes of course. I'm sure the experience of our Potions master..." he began but was soon interrupted by Amelia.

"Professor Slughorn has been invited to participate in the proceedings, and will receive some materials for his researches in exchange for his help. Gringotts' goblins will arrive precisely at 10 o'clock to retrieve the carcass. Throughout this process, Mr Snape will be forbidden to approach the place as a guarantee of Mr Potter's safety, with whom he is prohibited from interacting."

"But, Amelia, be reasonable! Facing a unique opportunity like this..."

"Enough! The law will be fulfilled to the letter! And as long as I'm here in the official exercise of my duties, watch out for formality, please."

Dumbledore didn't like the roughness with Amelia had treated him in front of the students. Um, the students! Maybe he could get in the way of that whole theatre that Potter and Bones had assembled without his permission or knowledge!

"Well, as you wish. But unfortunately it is my duty to block the access of underage students to a potentially dangerous location and the possibly traumatic view of such a dangerous and feared creature unless they are in possession of written permission from their parents."

To his amazement, there was no protest from the students at his words. On the contrary, the headmaster only saw most of them take a piece of parchment from some pocket and lift it up, ready to deliver the requested permission. Albus sat down again and ignored everything else, lost in thought. How was he constantly being passed behind so efficiently? Had he lost his legendary ability to plan ahead and be prepared for any situation? Was he getting too old for this kind of game?

-o0o-

"Professor! Professor Moody!" Harry shouted as he ran at Neville's side to reach the false teacher, who was about to enter his chambers.

"What is it, Potter? Should not you be down there, enjoying the effect your basilisk is sure to have on all those excitable little girls?"

Harry blushed at the comment, but continued with the plan: "We have some questions for you, if you can only grant us a few minutes."

Moody looked both ways down the hall, then at each of the boys before finally conceding.

"Be quick, Potter. I have a lot to do."

If there was still any doubt that this was not the real Alastor Moody, it was dispelled when the man turned his back on the boys and preceded them into entering the chambers. When he finally awake from the Stupify spell that Harry shot at his back, he was firmly attached to a chair and already felt the veritaserum that had been applied to him starting to work. Harry owed Luna a kiss for the good idea of getting the potion from Snape's private stocks. The real Alastor Moody was already free and with his wand pointed at the impostor, and Harry had already updated the old Auror about the recent events and the plan they had drawn up.

Crouch Junior could have simply stunned Harry, flown with him in a broom far beyond the confines of the school and apparated far away, all in less than a minute. However, he would spend almost all year trying to impersonate Alastor Moody just to have Harry's abduction take place on the last task of the Triwizard Tournament, in front of as many people and celebrities as possible. What stupidity!

After the interrogation Harry left Crouch Junior alone with two people not happy with his past actions. Moody also wanted some revenge for sure! What happened there from that moment on would be a secret among those three. Harry just knew Crouch Junior would never be a threat to anyone again.

-o0o-

Monday arrived, and Severus Snape lamented his recent failures: Potter avoiding retaliating to his verbal assaults, a restraining order on the boy, the instability of his current job, the demoralization of losing so many students to Slughorn, the lost chance to extract ingredients from a thousand year old basilisk! The only thought that comforted him was that there was not much more that his situation could worsen.

How he regretted having had that thought! It seems that fate had heard his thought and had decided to teach him a bitter lesson. Not quite ten minutes later his godchild Draco came to show him the new edition of The Quibbler, with a series of special articles revealing his most intimate secrets, from his obsessive passion for Lily Evans to his father's murder, and the prophecy that sealed fate of the Potters.

Hogwarts was no longer a safe option. It was even possible that Madame Bones was already on her way to 'invite' him to testify in one of the special rooms of the DMLE. In a few minutes he packed his bags and left Hogwarts without even bothering about a letter of resignation. Let's Albus to discover for himself!

-o0o-

Amelia did not arrest Snape because it would be very difficult to keep him imprisoned only with the evidence they had. Dumbledore had obtained a pardon for the faults that the potions master had committed as Death Eater in exchange for the aid he had given as a spy. The actions he had committed at Hogwarts were serious, and should be enough to condemn him, but as students from reputable families were favoured over muggleborns or half-blood victims, the matter was complicated. Many of those victims would probably refuse to testify for fear of reprisal, while some money exchanging hands would solidify the tendency for the pure bloods to protect themselves against the others. The guilty students being acquitted would eventually cause the acquittal of Snape too, who had only covered their actions.

It was thus that Amelia did not even think about wasting time going to Hogwarts, staying in the DMLE operating room, where she comfortably witnessed the moment when Snape, accompanying Lucius Malfoy, entered the Riddle Mansion. Those mirrors were really a fantastic invention! So simple but so useful!

-o0o-

With the beginning of Professor Slughorn's class and the sudden departure of Severus Snape, no one outside the group noticed anything strange about Professor Moody. Not even during the curious meeting of the teachers that night.

"It seems that Albus will not attend this meeting. I think we'd better start without him," McGonagall said, starting the teachers' meeting in the absence of the headmaster.

"Do you know where he is, Minerva?" Sprout asked.

"In the Ministry, trying to explain the actions reported today against Severus, in the hope that he can still teach here," the deputy headmistress replied with obvious annoyance.

"And he left you the agenda of what we should treat?" Flitwick asked. "After all, it was he who took the initiative to mark this extraordinary meeting."

"Yes, he left, but honestly, I do not agree with a single point. You will see for yourselves. The first point would be to find a way to ban bikes from Hogwarts immediately."

"Why this, Minerva?" asked Septima Vector. "They're used only outside the castle, and they're a great exercise. These young people need to spend some of their excess energy. Besides, I've never seen them so happy."

"I know, and I agree," commented McGonagall. "But Albus... I do not know what's on his mind. He thinks bicycles disfigure the school in some way. I tried to argue that they were innocuous and that he would create revolt among the students, but, as always, he did not hear me."

"Just note down there that we do not see the possibility of immediate banning of the bikes and we move on to the next point," Aurora suggested.

"Next point: rigorously punishment for any and all use of magic by students outside of classrooms."

"Where will the children be able to practice?" asked Hagrid.

"How does he expect us to watch hundreds of children in such a big castle?" asked Charity, the Muggle Studies teacher.

"Albus has gone mad," said Flitwick. "Yesterday morning I saw a group of newcomers taking instructions from older students about cleaning and polishing spells. It was a pleasure to see those little eyes shining from learning useful magic. That corridor is now the cleanest and most beautiful this castle has seen in many years. And in the afternoon, when I had some of those kids in my class, it was the most productive Charms inaugural class of my career. They were all eager to learn, and those who had participated in the improvised instruction helped the others by telling them what they had learned and practiced. If that's what Albus wants to eliminate, I'm against it!"

"Well, I understand," said Minerva. "I'll just put it here that we do not see a practical way of implementing the measure and we cannot overload the academic body with this task."

"Any more?" asked Pomona.

Minerva let out a long sigh before presenting the next point. It was clear that this would not please her colleagues either.

"Albus wants to find out the participants in the vigilante group that has been counterattacking bullying at school."

"To punish them strictly, of course, while the attackers only get one or two points of punishment," Alastor commented sarcastically.

"Of course," Minerva replied with equal sarcasm.

"He lets the bandits escape practically without punishment and wants to punish the good guys for doing the work that would be Albus' and us teachers'," said Professor Sinistra indignantly. "If I see them in action, know that I will applaud and refuse to betray them."

"Great idea! I'll put it here that teachers will take appropriate action if they saw those responsible," Minerva commented, making her friends smile with their discreet handling of the facts.

"Is that all?" asked Pomona.

"Yes, it is. Merlin, I never thought we'd get there. Hogwarts is no longer the same!" concluded McGonagall, visibly stressed.

"I think I speak for everyone by saying that I'm happy with most of the changes," Flitwick said. "If only we could convince Albus to retire!"


	12. 12 The Globet of Fire and the First Task

**CHAPTER 12 – The Goblet of Fire and the First Task**

After all the initial turmoil, the next few days were much calmer. Amelia was still guarding the Riddle mansion, but the movement was small, restricted to the purchase of food and some other items, by what they could observe. Lucius spent most of his time away, while Snape, on the other hand, did not leave the mansion once.

At Hogwarts the mood was festive, except for a few Slytherins, desperate to lose their greatest ally in school and horrified by the sudden invasion of Muggle goods. With the cheerful mood and the students (at least most) even more eager to learn, Albus Dumbledore was waging a solitary battle to try to stop those changes. His own employees were constantly upsetting him, and with the Board of Directors also contrary to his ideas, the old mage had to accept defeat, at least for the time being.

As for the attacks and bullying, only one more attack was directed against Pansy, but several attempts were made against the younger students. Since it was no use waiting for appropriate punishments by the faculty, the group took on the role of putting some pressure on the attackers. Their wands were destroyed and their names, with a description of the offenses committed, forwarded to the Weasley twins. Few of them ever tried anything again. Because teachers were limited in the punishment they could give these students, they took advantage of the loss of the wand and the disruption that the pranks done by the twins caused as a reason to take some more points and determine some more detentions for the attackers.

To the headmaster's surprise, Sirius and Harry attended the meeting he had asked for a week after their last meeting. It lasted a short time, with Harry spending most of the time pleasing Fawkes while Sirius and Dumbledore quickly came to a new impasse and said goodbye to each other, disenchanted with the stubbornness of the other. Dumbledore did not even realize that the real reason for Harry's presence and staying with Fawkes was the opportunity to install and camouflage a spy mirror in the headmaster's office.

The group was now relatively stable. Of the 293 students currently attending Hogwarts, 142 were actual members of the group, taking the standard oath and receiving access to almost all available information, while another 98, mostly students from the first two years, were aspiring members that gave just a basic oath of secrecy and mutual help, and received access to only part of the information.

The core of the group was still mostly the ones gathered during the summer, plus a few new members who stood out for one reason or another, such as Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor, Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff or Brenda McCartney of Ravenclaw.

If the first weekend had already been a bicycle hit, the first weekend with a visit to Hogsmeade surpassed any expectations. Only half the usual number of coaches was needed to get the students to the magic village, and only a fraction of them returned with students to school. If the teachers realized how many students left without but returned with a bicycle, they did not comment with the children.

None of the adults gave any sign of having noticed the change from Crouch Junior to the real Alastor Moody. The old Auror, despite his gruff and rude appearance, was taking a liking to teaching and was helping the children who showed interest not only with his own knowledge but also acting as a facilitator to put them in contact with the teachers of their favourite subjects. The group made use of this willingness of the teacher to achieve the creation of various study and research groups on topics taught at school.

A few days after the celebration of Hermione's birthday, Harry was approached by a nervous and timid Dobby (which shocked the boy by his shyness) with a different request. The Winky elf, who had belonged to Crouch, was desolate because she had lost her family. This problem was easy to solve with Astoria and Daphne taking the elf, which gave the girls an additional level of protection in Slytherin. But this reminded Harry that Crouch's father had taken away his son from Azkaban, creating a very dangerous situation. It hurt a little the boy's sense of justice to know that old Crouch would escape without punishment due to the need to keep a secret about the true Alastor and on Crouch Junior's final destiny.

Not that Harry was ever going to charge, but Dobby paid royally for their kindness to Winky. Finding they were in need of a safer place for their meetings and training, the enthusiastic elf showed Harry the Room of Requirement, something the group soon considered the greatest and most complex magical accomplishment of all time. Nothing they knew compared to that room. The ability it has to extract from their minds what they wanted and to materialize that desire with such precision was something that supplanted even the legendary deeds attributed to Merlin. Still more, the room was able to open passages to any place inside the castle and, in one of its configurations, was serving as depot for items lost for many centuries. The group was arranging all those items, retrieving many rare books for the Island library, as well as items of monetary, artistic or historical value, but the great surprise was finding there one of Voldemort's horcruxes: Rowena Ravenclaw's beautiful tiara, which that abject being had irreparably tarnished.

Luckily Voldemort's plan did not anticipate contact with Crouch Junior except in some really emergency case. Amelia had discovered that one of the protections installed in the Riddle mansion required the presence of Voldemort's mark so that the person could enter with impunity. Alastor would have problems if he needed to report directly.

The question the group was most concerned with was the Triwizard Tournament. In order for Alastor's situation not to be revealed, it would be necessary to enter Harry into the tournament, but his entry certainly would result in much criticism and bad publicity against the boy.

-o0o-

Harry almost arrived late for the reception to the visiting schools. He had spent the night in the Room of Requirement with Morag, and had spent far more energy than he had expected. Interesting as it was always the quietest in public the most demanding in intimacy. This reminded him of Juca Chaves' definition of perfect woman: a lady in society and a slut in bed. Juca complained that his was the exact opposite.

The general opinion of the group was that the arrival of the other schools turned out to be a somewhat too formal and impressive event, but acceptable in view of the character of the competition. The newcomers first entered the Great Hall and chose their seats, Beauxbatons at the Ravenclaw table and Durmstrang at the Slytherin table. To prevent these tables from becoming overpopulated, some members of the group switched tables, those of Slytherin joining Hufflepuff, Ravenclaws to Gryffindor, Luna in Harry's lap.

"All set for tomorrow night, Harry," she said as she filled the same plate for both, putting her preferences on the left and the boy's to the right.

"Yes, everything is ready. What about the article for The Quibbler?"

"Dad already has the new edition printed and ready for shipping, do not worry."

Harry would not worry. He had finally learned the lesson that he now had many faithful and trustworthy friends whom he could count on at any time. He just smiled; happy with that thought.

-o0o-

In the last two days the group members have tried to get closer to the visitors, both to form friendships and meet them in person, as well as to obtain information about the other schools and the countries they attended. Progress was slow; the visitors were reluctant to mingle with the Hogwarts students, they were still too involved in the mood of competition and kept suspicious and reserved.

Halloween night had finally arrived, and with it the selection of competitors by the Goblet of Fire. Fleur Delacour had been chosen to represent Beauxbatons, Quidditch star Viktor Krum would represent Durmstrang and Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts. Harry Potter had also been selected, though no school was quoted, generating vehement protests and accusations from visiting students and staff at the teachers' table, but soon they all fell silent at the sight of the Goblet of Fire throwing up another piece of parchment.

"Draco Malfoy ..." said Dumbledore, turning to Slytherin, trying to remain serious, but his eyes gleaming with malice, "...by the Association of Aborting Androgynous Aberrations."

Half the present population summed up the outraged protests against the farce that became the Tournament, while the other half laughed at the fear and humiliation stamped on the face of the Slytherin who had spent the day telling everyone that he would win the Tournament were it not for the age restriction.

Dumbledore's frustration and sadness was visible when he once again picked up a parchment thrown by the Goblet of Fire.

"For the Retreat of the Risible Reporters Reporting Ridiculous Reports, Miss Rita Skeeter."

In the corner of the Great Hall next to the Slytherin table and opposite the teacher's table, where there was no one until then, now there was a woman in a garishly dressed and more makeup than the one recommended for someone of that age, parchment and pen in hand, loud crying: "What does this means? I did not put my name on that vase of flames! What's going on here, Dumbledore?"

The old headmaster did not even bother to look at that sad figure. Picking up another parchment from the air, he announced angrily, "For the Secret Secretariat of Sly Servants Serving Sordid Services, Mr Bartemius Crouch."

Luckily, this time the Goblet of Fire had gone extinct, indicating no more surprises for that night. Now it was just a matter of Albus to find a way to save his reputation and his position in the midst of that whole mess. As if he had not too much worries already!

-o0o-

In the midst of all that confusion Harry and Cedric were soon dismissed and went to meet the others in the Room of Requirement. It seemed that few adhered to the curfew. The Hall was huge, in the shape of an auditorium, with a small tribune on the opposite side of the entrance door and many rows of chairs, mostly occupied.

"Attention, everyone!" said Harry as he reached the podium. "First of all, my thanks to all those who helped to make this tournament the biggest embarrassment Dumbledore and our dear Ministry ever suffered."

After a pause so that everyone could laugh and congratulate themselves again on success, Harry continued to explain, especially to those who had not been included in the details of the plan so far: "Voldemort wanted me to participate in this tournament as part of a plan for abduct me during the last task. As you know, we discovered the presence of his spy here at Hogwarts and neutralized it by replacing the real Alastor Moody."

Here he paused again to indicate the Auror who, smiling, waved to the students from his place in the last row of chairs.

"Their plan was simple. First, a spell to confuse the Goblet of Fire as to the number of participating schools. Second, put my name, taken from one of the homework signed by me, as sole representative of a fourth school, to ensure that I would have no competitors and would then be forcibly chosen. What we did was expand on this idea so that the population and authorities could not accuse only me of having cheated to get my own inclusion. Then came the idea of including more participants. And these participants were chosen for a good reason. Draco Malfoy has been the biggest supporter of the privileges of the purebloods, and one of the most scathing in insulting all those he considers unworthy of attending school. Rita Skeeter is an animagus in the form of a beetle, and has been haunting the school since the arrival of our visitors. With the amount of special researches and secrets we are dealing with, her presence has become a security issue for our group. Finally, for those who do not know, Bartemius Crouch is the father of the spy that Voldemort had planted here at the school in the place of Professor Moody, and was responsible for the escape of his son from the Azkaban prison."

"How did you get the signature of the adults?" asked someone Harry did not recognize from one of the chairs in the middle of the group.

"Easy. They, like us, were students here at Hogwarts, and the school keeps all examinations of all students filed. A house elf, incidentally my personal friend Dobby here, got the signatures for me from this file."

Dobby, present at one corner of the platform, was embarrassed but immensely happy to receive all that attention. But Harry had not yet finished: "Tomorrow The Quibbler will bring a complete story about today's events, revealing Skeeter's animagus form and placing all the blame for tonight's events on the inefficiency and neglect of Albus Dumbledore and Bartemius Crouch. Fantastic how they got access to all this information and closed a new edition to the point of delivery it the morning after the facts, don't you think?" He concludes, smiling and winking at Luna, who was truly happy. She loved every time her father's publication was able to score a point against The Daily Prophet.

-o0o-

The next day was very busy at Hogwarts. Aurors, Unspeakables and all sorts of Ministry of Magic officials were everywhere, investigating, interviewing students and teachers, examining the Goblet of Fire and the pieces of parchment it had issued, consulting compendiums of laws and tournament regulations, both in the current version as in the previous one, of 1692.

Harry was interviewed and questioned several times. Luckily the night before Halloween he had slept in Gryffindor's dormitory in the sight of his companions, or the secret of the Room of Requirement and the identity of whoever had spent the night with him could be compromised if he did not want to become a suspect in the case.

Luna had another day of great happiness. On the one hand, she was greeted by many for the articles in The Quibbler describing the events, mainly for having completed the matter four days before the events! On the other hand, these same articles have been sold to thirty-seven other publications around the planet. She was now an internationally renowned reporter!

Another one who was having a good time was Daphne. With Harry already a 'graduate', she had resolved to help Neville 'awaken his potential' and 'release the lion that was trapped inside him', as she had expressed herself. Knowing that her father would force her to marry a pureblood, it was in her interest to have at least one acceptable choice available and well trained. The effects were already evident by the continuous smile and greater confidence that Neville had been exhibiting. Not that she had totally left Harry aside, which turned out to be a great lesson to both boys. It was interesting how girls were much more open to sharing affections. The boys were much more selfish. They showed a disposition to fight for the exclusive possession of the girl, treating the other boy as a rival and the girl as a mere object, a prize to the winner; or they tended to abandon the struggle by rationalizing the loss with nonsense like 'she's too fickle', 'she is not worthy' or even 'what a slut!'. The strong friendship Harry and Neville had developed helped them both see that girls should have the same rights; somebody liking someone was not an impediment to like another as well, and the macho trap of using two-and-a-half measures when evaluating the acts of males and females of the species. Daphne, knowing all that long ago, only smiled in satisfaction that another important lesson had been given successfully, and not just to those two. The whole affair had been watched and followed by most of the boys in the group, and even some from outside, and caused a lot of reflections.

-o0o-

Lucius Malfoy had been busy that day too. In the morning, Igor, the mercenary in charge of obtaining a copy of the Daily Prophet of that day, saw the name of his contractor in another publication and brought a copy of The Quibbler to Lucius, who was not at all pleased that his son was enrolled in such a dangerous Tournament. Immediately he started writing and sending letters. First to Fudge, requesting the intervention of the Minister in the protection of his son and complete investigation of the facts. Another to Crouch Junior, in his role as 'Alastor Moody', wondering how his son was included in the tournament. Finally, to his few remaining friends and some Wizengamot members that owed him some favour, urging them to put pressure on the government to intervene at Hogwarts and investigate Dumbledore.

Alastor answered his letter in the afternoon. Briefly, even a little rude, he only claimed to have done as requested: he had placed a Confundus spell so that the Goblet of Fire didn't know the number of participating schools and entered Potter's name. If some students had tried to prank some people and were eventually successful by the effect of the Confundus, it was not his problem. Lucius had no choice but to accept the answer and the rudeness and move on.

During the dinner the Hogwarts inhabitants were surprised by the unexpected visit of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and a rotund and petite lady dressed in pink whose mere sight made Harry immediately apprehensive.

The minister recognized Dumbledore's presence with a nod of his head and kept the old wizard silent, raising a hand to avoid the amenities that Albus would surely address to him. Turning to his audience as he arrived in front of the teachers' table, the minister went straight to the point.

"What happened here last night was lamentable, and made this august school laughable all over the world. This is an unacceptable situation! The magical government of Britain could not be inert in the face of such shame! That is why I am here to assure you that your government will not be silent on its obligations! This afternoon I signed Educational Decree No. 24 instituting the position of High Inquisitor for Hogwarts and calling for my faithful staff member, Dolores Jane Umbridge, to exercise it."

As the Minister paused to point Madame Umbridge at the students, Susan was telepathically conveying to the core members of the group what she knew about the first High Inquisitor at Hogwarts. In short, the woman was a farce. Born of Muggle mother and wizard, the family had separated before she joined Hogwarts due to the birth of a brother without magic (a squib). Mother and brother returned to the Muggle world, and Umbridge went to live only with his father, trying at all costs to pretend to be pure in blood, telling everyone that his mother was also a pureblood that had died after conceiving her.

Umbridge denied her origin with such force that she was even more fanatical in her defence of the privileges of the purebloods than many members of the oldest and most traditional magical families. For one thing, it was worrisome to have such a person with so much power at Hogwarts, but otherwise they had something against her, a secret she wanted at all costs to hide. It was time to think and decide whether to go straight to the revelation of that secret or guard it as a bargaining item for a propitious occasion.

"Madame Umbridge will have the entire support of my government in the exercise of her new functions," Fudge continued his speech. "Her first activities will be: to lead a thorough investigation into the events of last night; to ensure that no further negative surprises do occur, and finally to make a thorough assessment of the current situation of Hogwarts, from facilities to the curriculum, from teachers and staff to the Rules of Conduct, in order to provide my government with the basis for future interventions if needed."

-o0o-

The meeting of the group leaders was quick that evening, as there was so much to do. Alastor had obtained for them the magical signature of Umbridge. Hermione, Daphne, and a battalion of Ravenclaws would spend the night decoding that signature arithmetically and then proceed to modify some spells and sets of runes to be activated exclusively by her signature. Nothing too dangerous or ostentatious, at least for now. Just enough to delay the activities of the High Inquisitor, so that she could not devote much time to interfering with Hogwarts.

It was still six o'clock in the morning when the Arithmantic group passed the results of their research to their colleagues and went to rest for a while. An hour and a half later, when Umbridge decided to start her first day in the new post, things did not go well for her. Doors refused to open; the corridors presented extremely slippery stretches; voices called her without her being able to identify the origin; her clothes behaved strangely, now seeming too small, now spare in her little figure...

She began to suspect interference the second time when she tried to reach the Great Hall and found herself in a completely different place, with no idea of how she had gotten there or which way she had gone. The Weasley twins, mainly responsibles for those strange events, were almost caught by her for the simple inability to contain laughter.

-o0o-

After the initial surprise with the High Inquisitor, the days went by without much news. Umbridge's work progresses slowly by a series of small incidents that continually forced her to ask a teacher for helps or change her mind about what to do next.

The government remade its accounts and was concerned about the additional spending that four more competitors would bring to the tournament, especially with respect to the first task. The case was eventually settled with the Ministry assuming half the additional costs when Dumbledore, to avoid further bad publicity against his name, agreed to pay the other half out of his pocket.

With the strange circumstances surrounding the tournament, the Bulgarian and French governments demanded, and won, the right to send a few extra staff to Hogwarts, both to ensure the safety of their citizens and to assist in investigations. Umbridge did not like this interference in a subject she considered to be her responsibility, but she had to swallow her sourness and still do her best to 'cooperate' with the foreigners.

Harry learned of this fact before most of Hogwarts. He was sipping his breakfast on Hufflepuff table when a very young musical voice called his name from the door of the Great Hall. Turning to see who was calling him, he saw a little girl running toward him, stopping about a meter away, and making a graceful and elegant courtesy toward him, before turning to speak a mile a second in French.

"Sorry, I thought you spoke French," she explained as she realized the misunderstanding on Harry's face. "I'm Gabrielle, Gabrielle Delacour. Do you remember me? We've traded two letters already!"

Harry remembered all of his little correspondents, three of whom had started studies at Hogwarts this year. The girl took advantage of the recognition to sit on the boy's lap and use the snacks on his plate, while quickly explaining the luck she had. Her father had been summoned to come to Hogwarts as the official representative of the French government and she had insisted and even made a real campaign to come together, which only came about when her mother decided to accompany the rest of the family.

And it was exactly the mother of the girl who was approaching now, leaving the male part of the students in stupor and the female part dying of envy. Apolline Delacour was supposed to be close to forty, but easily passed by a not much older sister of her daughter Fleur.

"Pardon, Monsieur Potter," she began in French, but soon switched to English. "My daughter says nothing more than her willingness to meet you personally since she received her first letter from you. And the little damsel rushed forward to see you leaving me behind."

Gabrielle was busy using the flaps of Harry's robe to try to hide from her mother's gaze. Her presence was only discernible by the long silver curls forming a curtain on Harry's chest, blocking the sight of the rest of her, and the unconcealed giggles that escaped from there.

-o0o-

In the days that followed, little Gabrielle became a regular company with the boy. Susan and Megan had to intervene and talk to the little veela, putting some limits on the behaviour of the child, since Harry, although immune to the charm of veelas, was not immune to the little eyes of a lovely child and always gave way. Still, it was much easier to find Gabrielle in one place than in any other: sitting happily on Harry's shoulders, pointing to everything she saw and asking for explanations that the boy, with practice, was already beginning to provide in French, although a telegraphic French.

If the little girl had already admired Harry so much, she went on to simply venerate him when the boy, taking advantage of the strange and inexpressive wand-weighing ceremony, managed to persuade old Ollivander to sell him a wand for Gabrielle's use, there was a breach that Gabi was French and the law said that 'British citizens could only buy wands from the age of eleven', leaving the situation of foreign children in a legal nimbus.

Harry, or any of the girls who were available when he was in class, started teaching Gabi the simplest spells, entering the theory only when the girl's natural curiosity demanded some explanation. The little girl was conquering everyone with her determination to learn magic as soon as possible in order to 'participate in the adventures' of her hero. Hermione and Padma even attempted to restrain the little girl's impetus a little by passing a few 'homework', but the girl diligently did all the suggested reading and exercises and had great pleasure in showing Harry the grades she got from the two 'serious teachers'.

-o0o-

Finally the day of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament had come. Dragons! Harry even had told Skeeter and Malfoy about the subject of the task in advance, since they seemed to be the only ones left unknowingly when they were ten days away from the task. Draco's lack of concern had Harry intrigued, wondering if the boy knew of any special trick he could use.

Cedric was the first to enter, facing a Swedish Short-Nose. His strategy was already known to the group, which helped him train. Hidden behind a large rock, he quickly transfigured all the surrounding medium rocks into monkeys, who would dash off to pester his dragon except for one that went straight to the golden egg and brought it to his safe position.

Crouch followed suit as a typical government official that he was: arrogant and giving orders as if it was everyone's duty to obey. With a Sonorus activated, he soon shouted, "Bombarda! Back, stupid creature! Reducto! Bombarda! I said back! Bombarda!"

It was an impressive entry ... while it lasted. Crouch's confidence and boldness had taken the huge, unsuspecting dragon by surprise, and for a moment even gave the appearance that the dragon would yield. But Crouch had put all his attention on the face of the dragon, forgetting that it had a mighty tail. After all, it was a Hungarian Horntail. A tail that hit him just below his knees, throwing him violently against one of the side walls of the arena. Luckily, the dragon-keepers were quick and efficient, distracting the beast so that the broken, bloody and unconscious Crouch could be removed.

Fleur then went up against a Common Welsh Green. She did not have much trouble putting the beast to sleep, but ended up with her robes burnt as she passed the dragon's head to collect her egg. Luckily she was able to quickly extinguish the flames and did not quite burn herself.

The next dragon was the largest of them all, the famous Ukrainian Iron Belly. Draco Malfoy stepped into the arena with the haughtiness one might expect from one of the finest examples of the British magical elite, glancing back and forth in search of his rival. Suddenly he stopped to look more closely at two columns that stood in front of him. He looked more and more upwards, curving his neck back until he could see the point where those two columns joined in a powerful structure from which came a ... neck? It was then that he saw the dragon's head and recognized the figure as a whole. Something was wrong! Something was very wrong there! The dragon Hagrid had created was not all that size! It fit into a box that Weasley and Potter could carry alone at the age of eleven!

So far back he had bent his neck that it was easy to fall flat on his back as he soil his pants in fear. From that lying position, when he saw the curious dragon's head approaching his, his only thought before fainting was, "Wait until my father knows about this!" To his good fortune, the odour his body now gave off was so repulsive that the dragon decided to leave aside the idea of taking an out of time snack and opted to wait for its usual non-smelling meal.

Rita Skeeter was totally out of her element there at the entrance to the arena. First, she had a magical wand in her hands. Didn't they know that their favourite weapon was the quill, not the wand? Second, she was becoming news, rather than reporting the news. This was all so wrong! It was then that she saw the beast she was about to face, a Romanian Long-horn, and the beast greeted her with a great roar and a blaze of fire that almost reached her, despite the distance between them. From then on she didn't see anything else until she woke up in the Hogwarts Medical ward.

Krum gave no chance to the Hebridean Black that fit him. He entered casting spell after spell, in a Crouch-style repeat, and ended up hitting the dragon's eyes with a Conjunctivitis spell, blinding the beast. He then made his way to the nest to get his golden egg, but the dragon heard his movements and made a jolt, stepping on some of its own eggs and hitting the chest of the famous Quidditch star with a strong hit of his front paw, proving to all that the boy only knew how to fly with the help of a broom. Without it, the result was several broken bones, plus several points deducted for the broken eggs. Groggy from the fall, he made the audience laugh as he sat staring at the monster and then saying, "It's only game! Vy yu heff to be mad?"

Harry walked quietly into the arena, chewing a gum and waving to his friends in the stands. Positioning himself in the sight of the dragon, but far enough away not to be struck by its flames or to be considered a threat, he drew his wand and intoned: "Accio Golden Egg!"

The spell didn't work, and there were many who laughed at the boy for thinking that such a simple trick could work. Harry did not care. He just took the chewing gum out of his mouth, put a strong sticking spell on it, banished it against the golden egg hard and tried again: "Accio chewing gum!" This time chewing gum and golden egg flew into his hand. He then picked up the egg and left laughing at the astonished face of those who had laughed at him.


	13. 13 End of a strange Tournament

CHAPTER 13 – End of a strange Tournament

Umbridge and Dumbledore had been doing a great job of neutralizing each other. The two were rarely seen outside meals, where they spent most of their time pretending the other did not exist.

The group was taking advantage of that impasse between the two to progress as much as it could in all areas. Gabi was still a great student, totally dedicated, and totally attached to Potter whenever she could. In fact, the boy was the only one who could call her by that diminutive, any other who tried could prepare for some form of retaliation. And Gabi knew how to make good use of the few spells she knew.

Su Li and Cho Chang had succeeded where the Unspeakables had failed: they were able to find, in ancient Chinese texts from their families, enough material that they could adapt to remove Voldemort's soul fraction in Harry and the other Horcruxes. Under the supervision of the Unspeakables, who secretly entered the castle with Moody's help, the two wiped out any ominous vestige from Rowena's tiara and the ring Alastor had retrieved from the old Gaunt's residence. Receiving permission from the Unspeakable after this double preliminary test, Harry was then treated successfully.

The extraction of Voldemort's soul fragment brought additional advantages to Harry. His scar had finally begun to fade, his vision had improved to the point where he could totally get rid of his glasses, and even his magical power had increased noticeably, about twenty per cent, now that the boy no longer had to fight the presence of that foreign body in your body. He still was wearing fake glasses just to not advertise the changes.

Sirius and Remus had made substantial progress in rebuilding the Potter Mansion. Project and foundations were completed, and the service was now in the hands of specialized contractors hired to complete the work. With free time again available, and taking advantage of the experience gained, the two Marauders decided to begin cleaning and renovating the Black's ancestral home in Grimmauld Place.

No sooner had the works there begun and Sirius made a happy discovery that soon was sent to Harry for cleaning: the locket of Salazar Slytherin, another of the Horcruxes created by Voldemort.

With five parts of his soul eliminated, Voldemort was about to become mortal again, and he was still reduced to inhabiting a homunculus, unable to count on his full power.

The only bad news in this period was that even more mercenaries had come to the Riddle mansion, and Amelia and Moody were suspicious of a possible attack on Azkaban in the near future, to free the Death Eaters held captive there.

The group's mood could not be better, and they decided to celebrate in a special way, using the Ball associated with the Tri-Wizard Tournament for that. They decided to use and abuse the rule that allowed younger students to attend since being invited by an elder, and decided that Hogwarts students would come by weight. Harry had invited Astoria to accompany him as soon as the ball was announced. After all, for all intents and purposes she was his bride. For the others, Hermione and Daphne had created a pairing list so that all students who wanted to attend the ball, regardless of age, had a company of adequate age to ensure their presence.

Only little Gabrielle had been vetoed. Harry, instead of disputing the decision, decided to convince the little girl to accept the fact by still doing that day something very special for the girl. She participated with the older ones of all the preparations, from a long bath and washing of hair to wearing a magnificent robe, receiving a minimum of makeup and a great variety of jewels to be adorned. To complete the day of the little one, they made a photo session, including many took next to Harry or dancing with him in the room of Requirements, set to look like a luxurious ballroom.

-o0o-

McGonagall was not pleased to see all the children attending the ball, but she bravely defended them when Umbridge attempted to interfere and sent the younger ones to their dorms. As Umbridge had pitted against it, Albus certainly stood in favour, and the children had a good time while the two adults fought for power at Hogwarts.

Harry spent the night dancing, a different girl at each song, from the first to the seventh year. The same did most of the others, making the ball a great fraternization, despite the beginning a little tense and too pompous. By the middle of the ball, even the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were loosening up a bit and entering the party mood, agreeing to dance with students from other schools.

-o0o-

"Our suspicions have been confirmed," Moody began the meeting the night after the ball. "While you were having fun with the ball, Malfoy led most of the mercenaries in an attack on Azkaban."

"Any casualties between the Aurors?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Only one. A rookie who was caught unawares at the beginning of the attack while making his rounds," he replied, then scolded the group as he saw sadness emblazoned on the face of many. "Cheer up! We are at war against a dangerous and resourceful enemy! Yesterday was a great victory for us! Just one loss from our side, against forty-four from the enemy!"

Taking a fresh breath the old Auror continued: "The traps you created worked wonderfully. As soon as the alarm was given, the staff on duty at the prison ran for the exits and left the prison, the last of them activating the defences we installed. We saw everything through the surveillance mirrors you created. They lost twelve men until they learned their lesson and started looking for the traps. Still several of them were not noticed, or they ended up still causing casualties when they tried to deactivate them without knowing exactly what they were. Luckily they had no specialist to help them or, if they had, they lost them in the first casualties."

"Prisoners have escaped?" asked Susana, curious about how the special poisons worked.

"Just for a moment or two," Alastor replied. "As soon as they left the magical field of Azkaban that served as an antidote to the poison we were supplying in their meal, they would fall dead like moths in the flame of a torch. Voldemort must be shaking in rage! The brothers Lestrange, Bellatrix, Rookwood, Mulciber, Avery, all dead as soon as they got away from prison."

"What about the Dementors?" Harry asked with some trepidation. "Have they joined Voldemort?"

"Without him there to negotiate with them?" retorted Alastor, laughing. "No. The most that Lucius was able to do was keep them away from his attacking party. They still remain in Azkaban, which has already been retaken by Amelia's forces."

-o0o-

A few days later Sirius contacted Harry through his communicator mirror.

"Hey, godson, how's it going?"

"Hello, Sirius. We are fine. Dumbledore and Umbridge are still fighting all the time and leaving the rest of the people alone!"

"Good to know. And the girls, still abusing my poor godson, using him for their naughty purposes?"

"No comment, Sirius," Harry replied, blushing deeply, which was enough answer for the Marauder, more than words.

"I'll leave this subject aside ... for now, and only because I have a special novelty to share."

"Special novelty? What it is?"

"The goblins at Gringotts have confirmed me as the sole heir of the Lestranges, because Bellatrix was my cousin and that family extinct. I took possession of their vault in the bank this morning. For security I asked the goblins to analyse the contents and separate any dangerous items they found. And they found several dangerous items, including this one."

Sirius handed Harry a small wooden goblet with embossed embellishments. Harry could make out the faint form of a badger on the side.

"A badger? Was it Helga Hufflepuff's?" asked Harry, now totally interested in the artefact. "Another horcrux?"

"Exactly, Harry. And from what we know, it's probably the last. I called Amelia to let her know. She will put the personnel in charge of watching the mansion on alert for any sign that Voldemort is eliminated when you destroy this abomination. Could you please send Dobby to collect the globet? Ask your beautiful oriental colleagues to destroy the horcrux as fast as possible. I cannot wait to see Voldemort eliminated forever!"

"It's for now! See you, Sirius! "

-o0o-

Su and Cho had no problem eliminating this horcrux and saving another important artefact from Hogwarts history, but the lack of reaction to its destruction at the Riddle mansion made it clear that Voldemort still possessed at least one more Horcrux. Amelia was wary that it might be the snake that would come out almost every morning from the mansion to hunt around it. Her behaviour seemed a bit too clever for an ordinary snake, and her size was far beyond what was expected for that species.

The date for the second task was approaching, forcing the group to realign its priorities. Harry and Cedric had been training swimming in the Room of Requirements transformed into a large swimming pool. Neville had given the idea of using gillyweed, which Harry promptly adopted, but Cedric saw two opposing points: he could not leave the lake before the effect was over and it was a magic that was independent of the competitor's ability or knowledge, which made him fear that its use would not guarantee as many points as other solutions.

But what worried most of all was the possibility that the lives of minors could be put at risk without the consent or knowledge of them or their parents. The group drafted a plan involving the Chamber of Secrets for the case such abuse of power might occur. They then called Alastor Moody, Amelia Bones, Jean-Pierre Delacour and Karel Ovcharov, respectively the tournament security officials for Hogwarts and the British, French and Bulgarian Magic Ministries, and set out their fears and their plan for them, which the adults immediately agreed with unreservedly.

-o0o-

Dumbledore was pleased with his plan to torment young Harry. For the boy, he had choose Ronald Weasley as hostage, who was already there in his office, eager to participate in the tournament, albeit indirectly. But Albus also knew that Harry was close to several more of his choices: Hermione Granger, his great friend since first year, would be the hostage of Viktor Krum; Cho Chang, the beautiful Chinese by which Albus knew that Harry had been interested the previous year, would be the hostage of Cedric Diggory; the little Gabriele Delacour, who had been spending so much time with the boy, would be the hostage of her sister Fleur; Pansy Parkinson, Crouch's grand-niece, seemed to be under Harry's protection; finally Astoria Greengrass, to whom the boy was engaged, would be an excellent hostage for his rival Draco Malfoy. Ah, that would irritate Harry! But Albus wanted even more! With so many hostages dear to him, Harry would probably be so confused and worried that he might well make a serious mistake, make some rash decision that would put him in a position to need the help of Albus. And Albus would certainly be there to provide that help ... for a price!

It was at this point in his thoughts that Professor McGonagall entered the office accompanied by Bozo, Skeeter's photographer... and nobody else!

"Minerva, where are the other hostages? We have to hurry!"

"They're not where they should be, Albus. By the way, it's not just them. I do not know where the majority of the students are! With the exception of Slytherin, where I only met the usual group of purists, the dorms are all empty! Everyone, Albus, including Beauxbatons and Durmstrang! Gone!"

"Impossible! I would know if they had tried to cross the school boundaries! They have to be around! Let's find them! Give me just a minute!"

Dumbledore then spoke to some portraits, who rushed out to carry out his orders. He also summoned one of the house-elves before heading to a ceramic model of the castle guarded behind the double doors of one of his many lockers. Approaching the model he said "Show me Harry Potter" in good tune. Immediately a pale orange light covered the whole model, making the old mage close his expression in amazement and indignation. He tried again: "Show me Minerva McGonagall" and a small bright orange light appeared on one of the towers of the model, corresponding to the position of his office. One more test: "Filius Flitwick" and the small, clear orange light appeared on the fourth floor, in the position corresponding to the charms' teacher's quarters. But then Dumbledore called again for his lost students, always with the same result: a diffused light covering the whole castle.

Soon elf and portraits returned from unsuccessful missions. No sign of the missing students had been found. An alarm soon sounded throughout the castle, summoning teachers and staff. Everyone spent the rest of the night walking around the castle like zombies, tired and drowsy zombies who didn't think they earn enough to justify all that work!

Breakfast took place in a tense and depressing atmosphere, only the school staff, a handful of Slytherins and a few guests for the second task of the Tournament. The starting time of the second task was approaching, and no competitors, hostages or other students!

Dumbledore had to make a decision. Approaching the lake, he sent a signal summoning the leader of the Merfolk to parley. While he waited, he transfigured stones that he selected in the margin into plaques with the name of each contender in relief. There would be no hostages in the task; competitors would retrieve those plaques as the 'something' they would surely miss. Delivering the plaques to Schwrzrschjwst, he asked them to be placed in the centre of the Merpeople village, in the place reserved for the hostages.

He expressed his disappointment for another brilliant plan failed with a great sigh and turned to occupy his position in the platform reserved for the judges. He was surprised by the sight of bleachers filled with students and the competitors quietly waiting for the start of the task just behind his position. Not knowing what to say, he said nothing. He just walked to the podium, hiding as best he could all his anger and frustration.

-o0o-

As soon as Argus Filch fired the cannon to start the second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Cedric and Fleur, in bathing suits, applied the Bubblehead spell and went swimming. Krum was soon following them, after performing a partial self-transfiguration into a shark. It took Harry some time before the small portion of gillyweed he ingested took effect, time while he could see Crouch wasting his time transfiguring his robes in an old-fashioned bathing suit with knee-length shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt before also using the Bubblehead charm. Meanwhile Skeeter and Malfoy were trying, without success, to copy the same Bubblehead charm.

Despite being the fourth to leave, at the same time as Crouch, Harry was making a good recovery. In a few minutes he had reached Fleur, whom he helped by firing some spells at the grindylows that were attacking her. Two minutes later he also left Cedric behind. A few more minutes, and Harry had an unexpected companion. Moaning Myrtle smiled at him and indicated a direction a little to the right of which he was following. Relying on the ghost, Harry nodded in thanks and went in the direction indicated by her.

Six minutes later, Harry was already seeing the Merpeople village. In the centre of the town's plaza, he found the plaque with his name, picked it up, and began the journey back. He had noticed that Krum's plaque was still there, which meant that Harry was in the lead and the Bulgarian had strayed from the best route.

Harry completed the test in twenty-seven and a half minutes, less than half the time! Malfoy and Skeeter were still there on the bank, trying the Bubblehead spell. Rita was being able to form the bubble, only to see it vanishing in the next instant. Malfoy was red from trying and screaming the incantation, copying Rita, showing no sign of success. Apparently the lack of the golden egg with the cue had left those two totally unprepared for the task.

Harry had to wait until almost the end of the granted time to see the other competitors returning. Cedric was the second to come, followed by Fleur. Two minutes later it was Krum's turn to leave the lake, visibly disappointed. Karkaroff ran to him screaming, asking what had happened and why the poor performance. Krum simply replied, "It's only game! Why you heff to be mad?"

Crouch only left the lake about fifteen minutes later, severely injured. Apparently he had abused a Merpeople child by taking her by the shoulders at the edge of the village and trying to force her to get his plaque for him. Some adult Merpeople who witnessed the scene did not like it at all and decided to teach the arrogant civil servant a lesson. Harry fully agreed with their initiative.

Just to clarify his position on the second task, after Crouch's return, Harry applied a Sonorus to himself and asked the audience, "Could you follow it all? Did you see what happened down there at the bottom of the lake?" He already knew the answer, so when the audience cleared his boredom with that task, he turned to the judges and asked, "On the third task would we have the same problem?" The confused look that the judges exchanged between them made it clear to everyone that there was work to be done.

-o0o-

Luna once again amused herself by smashing the organizers of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and Dumbledore in particular in The Quibbler. She told of the attempt to use underage hostages without theirs or their guardians' consent; on the forced replacement of hostages by transfigured stones and about the boredom of staring at the surface of the lake, not knowing what was going on below. She wasted no time on Rita's and Draco's pathetic participations, but did everything possible to turn Crouch's case into a serious incident in the magical interspecies relationship, unworthy of someone responsible for the Department of International Cooperation.

The Daily Prophet ignored or downplayed all of these points except for the lack of spectacle for the public, and it called for efforts to be made so that it did not occur in the third task. Fudge and Umbridge gave interviews, putting all the blame on Dumbledore and promising a show worthy of British magical ability for the third task.

-o0o-

Fleur was reviewing her opinion of the young Harry Potter. She hadn't liked to see the famous British wizard surrounded by so many girls and so immune to her charms. She became jealous when she saw her younger sister become the most active among the girls who followed him everywhere. She thought that his performance in the first task had been poor, not showing any special talent.

After he had helped her get rid of the grindylows in the second task she was afraid, waiting for the moment when the young man would approach her asking for some favour (sexual, of course) in return for his help. Most of the boys would have done it. A more ambitious minority would certainly try to convince her that her life had been in danger, and a life debt would have been created.

But the days passed and the boy did not act. That made Fleur curious and unsure of her opinion of her competitor. When, on a walk with her mother and sister, she mentioned the case, the two just laughed at her and all the response she got was a "You don't know Harry."

Now, rethinking the facts, she saw how much she had allowed herself to be driven by her desire to see the worst in the boy. Like any person who was a victim of prejudice, she had only paid attention to what agreed with her opinion about the boy, ignoring everything else as irrelevant.

Reviewing the facts, she began to notice the discrepancies. Yes, Harry lived surrounded by girls, but the way they acted was not the traditional idol-fan formula she'd wanted to see. There was no adulation, hysterical shrieks, fainting... It was simple friendship, in some cases perhaps a little more, but nothing of what she had expected to see.

-o0o-

A strange and short meeting provided the contestants of the Tri-Wizard Tournament with information about what awaited them in the third task: a maze made of magical ivy, resistant to spells. Ludo Bagman, knowing that Krum, Cedric, Harry, and Draco were all Quidditch players, cut the easy way out by saying that the entire area of the labyrinth would be under protection that would prevent the use of magical brooms.

Harry did not worry too much. He had an idea of how to beat the maze with a minimum of effort. Of course that would require him to learn and master a spell normally seen only in the last year of Hogwarts, but for those who had mastered the post-NEWT Patronus spell last year, a simple conjuration seemed to be of little consequence.

Harry even tried to keep his idea a secret, but the group wanted to make sure his plan was good and safe. Hannah spent the night with him in the Room of Requirement, and she had no difficulty in seducing him to tell. With all the fun they had, Harry did not even remember being mad at her.

-o0o-

Among the three headmasters of the Schools, their respective teachers and the government, a complex system was prepared so that all spectators had a pleasant and exciting experience with the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

A set of eight panels would be used, one panel for each competitor and one for their general positioning within the maze. The overall positioning panel was a rectangle with the external layout of the labyrinth marked by green lines, and would display the position of the trophy and each competitor by different colour points. A small enchanted mirror would be used as a sort of tiara by the competitors and would provide the exact position of each on the location panel. It would not display the shape of the ivy walls nor the position of the obstacles so as not to alert the competitors, who would also be able to see the panel from inside the labyrinth. The mirror of each competitor would be transmitting to the corresponding panel the vision that each one would have of the events.

It was difficult to reach this consensus. For two months the adults were debating how much to show to the public, and how to do it. Dumbledore was the one who struggled most to limit the amount of information transmitted to the public. He still believed that Harry's name was included in the Tournament by Voldemort's work. Since the Dark Lord had not interfered in the first two tasks, Albus was sure that the third task was the opportunity Tom had been waiting for. If they made Voldemort's plans too difficult to succeed by transmitting so much information, his agents could be forced to take drastic action to ensure success, which could end in tragedy.

Albus' problem was that he could not say openly his motives to try to limit the transmission as much as he wanted. After the fiasco of the second task, where the public had nothing to look at, his first attempts to block access to information were seen by Fudge and Umbridge as a direct attempt to make the government go through another fiasco, and he had to give in so as not to risk losing his position at Hogwarts.

-o0o-

Everything was ready! Competitors with their special bandanas, the public savvy about the panels and happy with the chance to accompany each competitor with details, judges and authorities already accommodated on the official platform. Dumbledore waved to Argus, who fired the cannon and started the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Harry hurried off and entered the narrow entrance. He would have two full minutes until the entry of the second competitor, Cedric Diggory. In a few steps he approached a vegetable wall, with exit to both sides. "Sie tabula" he shouted, and a wooden board was created in front of him, going from the ground to the top of the bush.

Without missing a moment, he continued to run up the board, and as soon as he had a vision of the space ahead, he again chanted "Sie tabula", conjuring another wooden board, now arranged as a bridge between two walls of the bush. Without missing a beat, Harry continued to run and conjure planks, making a quick run to the centre of the labyrinth over walls and obstacles. Only once was he distracted, when an acromantula tried to climb to the top of the bush to intercept him. Harry just banished the board he had just created in the direction of the big spider and created another in substitution, barely slowing his speed. The acromantula received the board fired by Harry between its eight eyes and fell backwards, no longer bothering the boy.

Twenty seconds later the famous Harry Potter lifted the cup from its pedestal, which triggered the spells placed on the pedestal to make the shrubs be absorbed into the ground while the various creatures brought as obstacles were confined in magical walls. The tournament was over before any other competitor could enter the maze!

Harry's friends cheered and applauded his performance, but most of the audience was not very happy. Yes, ingenious how the boy had avoided all the obstacles, but it had a taste of cheating too, hadn't it? Coupled with what had happened in the first and second tasks, the whole situation was not very supportive of the hero. He had shown no great and exuberant magical deeds, no knowledge of arcane and striking arts, no overwhelming power... Just cunning! Within the rules, yes, but so far from the expected spectacles of magic that his victory seemed unfair.

Fudge and Umbridge were furious. So much work to provide a great spectacle to the public, for nothing! A sphinx had been brought from Egypt, a Minotaur from Crete, a Medusa from Greece, and the public never even saw them in action!

Dumbledore didn't believe what had happened, and he was looking around, puzzled, waiting for the Death Eaters' attack or any other catastrophe ready to change the whole situation. But nothing happened, and the old man couldn't stop looking...

Karkaroff was furious! He was the cause that delayed the Tournament for two years because he wanted Viktor Krum, the most powerful and efficient wizard to attend Durmstrang in recent years, to reach the age to be able to compete and bring the glory of victory to his school. Profoundly disappointed, Karkaroff lost all composure and proceeded to pummel the guard of the platform in front of him.

Karkaroff's uncontrolled reaction attracted the attention of the other competitors. Cedric asked curiously to Krum: "Is he always like this?"

The Bulgarian just shrugged and replied: "It's only game! Why he heff to be mad?"

 **A/N:** Curious about Krum's words? Watch v=xzpndHtdl9A at youtube. It is done, TheGreatBubbaJ.


	14. 14 End of Voldemort and the Greater Good

**CHAPTER 14 – The End of Voldemort and the Greater Good**

After a quick awards ceremony, the group organized around Harry heading to the castle to begin the celebrations. Or so they wanted the rest to think. Arriving at the castle, Alastor and Harry mounted on their brooms, the boy under his cloak of invisibility and the auror under a spell with similar effect, and they departed out of the anti-apparition protections of the castle. For these two, the day had barely begun, there was still much to do!

Far away, in Little Hangleton's cemetery, groups of three or four mercenaries stood in their positions, waiting vigilantly for the arrival of their prey.

They did not have to wait long. A few minutes after the start of the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament a young man is brought by a portkey near a tomb topped by an angel statue playing a long wind instrument. The boy, who held his wand in one hand and the tournament cup in another, still confused by the unexpected trip, was stunned by at least three spells before he even realized where he was.

The nearest mercenary, a blond man who had lost part of his nose and left face, bowed down beside the young man, took his wand and nodded to one of his companions, who immediately cast a warning spell toward the mansion that stood at half a mile away.

Soon a small procession left the mansion and headed for the graveyard, led by the blond with the half-mask who had hired them and a big nose, oil-haired man who seemed to be carrying a baby in his arms. The rest of the mercenaries followed behind, two of them levitating a large cauldron.

As soon as the great cauldron is placed on an improvised campfire, a strange ceremony begins. The baby is placed in the cauldron as soon as its contents begin to emit vapours. Bones are unearthed from a nearby tomb and also directed to the cauldron. The master, with a howl of pain, cuts off his own left hand, which falls into the cauldron. Finally, blood is taken from the boy, who remains unconscious.

Sparks of various colours fly out of the cauldron while the liquid inside it undergoes strange changes in colour and viscosity. Everyone's eyes are locked on that scene, accompanying those various changes. That's why no one notices the most distant personnel falling unconscious to the ground. Only Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake and his last horcrux, noticed the arrival of strangers. She came up close to her master, whistling an alert. But his master was in the cauldron, and he did not hear her. And all those other bipeds around her ignored her, those idiots who did not know the true language.

Snape is the first to realize that something does not go well. First, it was the potion. The behaviour of the potion was very strange. Then, at the edge of his peripheral vision, he notices the fall of three of the mercenaries, unconscious. As he pulls out his wand, he looks at Potter, still bound and unconscious, but not Potter anymore! He was one of the mercenaries, the one who had been sent to observe the Tournament final and then report the reaction of public and personalities to the arrival of the corpse of the precious Potter!

"It's a trap!" he shouts, and tries to apparate, without success. He then places a bubble-head spell around his head, which is copied by two of the mercenaries. They are the only three to remain conscious.

From the cauldron a strange figure begins to rise. The most grotesque figure anyone could ever see. Its entire back was covered in white wool, while the front appeared to have been scalped by a blind Indian with an even blinder knife. It was disgusting to the extreme!

Snape's quick mind soon concluded what should have gone wrong with the ritual. Sheep bones, apparently. Blood of an admirer of the cause, rather than an enemy. And finally, that idiot Malfoy sacrificing a burnt and disfigured hand instead of sacrificing a still good part of his body.

Aurors appeared everywhere, British, French, and Bulgarians, and Snape threw his wand to the ground and raised his arms in surrender, followed by the two mercenaries. From the middle of the Aurors a different figure takes the lead and casts a cutting spell. Nagini's head falls to the ground. Another sharp spell and the body of the snake, wrapped around the cauldron, is divided into three parts.

Potter! Snape almost dived toward his wand in the hope of being able to kill his torment before being incapacitated by the group of Aurors. It helped to avoid that suicidal task seeing the facts occurring at his side. From the dead snake rose a dark smoke that quickly dissipated with a cry of pain that was more human than ophidian. This seems to have been the signal for Voldemort's body to begin to rot in ashes, first slowly, but with increasing speed. Another dark smoke rose from the cauldron, another piercing scream of pain and fury, and Snape realized that the black mark on his arm, still raised in surrender, was also gone.

'Good,' he thought. 'Finally free from this megalomaniac! Now a little help from Malfoy and I can dodge the prison and live the rest of my life away from all this mess.'

Potter and the real Moody were already distancing themselves. They would go back to Hogwarts and pretend they had been there all day.

Snape's mind was divided into two parts. One continued happily thinking about his near future somewhere far away. The other began to worry about some discrepancies he noticed. The Aurors, for example, were not at all anxious to immobilize the disgruntled mercenaries. Would the gas they used have a long-term effect? This part of Snape's mind made him look at Lucius, to see if his friend was already waking up. No, Lucius was not waking up. Looking better, Snape realized that Lucius was not even breathing. That's when he heard nearby a "Finite Incantatem" and saw that his bubble-head spell had been undone. He felt a burning in his chest, then nothing more. He was dead, like all the rest of those who aided Voldemort.

-o0o-

Harry and Alastor returned safely to Hogwarts. All the group had to do was look at the big smile that the boy was wearing so that the party really started. Voldemort liquidated once and for all!

The only sad point in all this was to say goodbye to little Gabrielle. That little girl had conquered a privileged place in the hearts of all, especially the Boy-who-lived. But the separation would be for a short time, since summer was coming and the Delacours invited everyone to stay part of it at their summer home in Cote D'Azur.

-o0o-

Albus Dumbledore did not follow his students' party. He had a lot to think about. Too many things ran out of control this past year, and he, always so close to everything and in complete control of the situation, had spent these last few months like a ship adrift, aimless and uncontrolled, thrown to and fro by waves that he could not anticipate where they would come from or where they would go to.

It had all started with young Harry refusing to return to his relatives' house. Where had he gotten the strength for that rebellion, and where had he spent the summer? Everything pointed to the involvement of the Greengrass sisters, including his strange and unexpected engagement with the youngest of them, but their parents knew nothing, as he had learned through legilimency. The girls were as young as Harry, how could they in such a short time have done so much damage to his plans and altered so much the behaviour of the heir of the Potters? After the young man had spent more than a decade under total submission in the hands of the Dursleys such change couldn't happen so fast!

Pettigrew's capture and Black's exoneration took him by surprise. Sirius and Harry concealed Peter's capture from him, and the date of the trial, with the reversion of Harry's guard to Sirius, had conveniently fallen on a date when he was out of the country. Had they gained Amelia's support so quickly? But if Amelia was in collusion with Potter and Black, what about Alastor? He and Dumbledore were long-time friends, but Amelia and Alastor had at least three decades of continuous contact in the DMLE, something far more intimate than the casual encounters between Alastor and Albus. Was Alastor against him, too?

These sad thoughts led Dumbledore to review the situation of the other two people he had always counted as allies. Minerva McGonagall had been with him at Hogwarts for decades. She had a strong temper and did not hesitate to disagree with him when she thought it necessary, but in the end he had always been able to persuade her to follow his plans. Always, except this last year. Between the attacks he had received in the press and the problems faced during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, his deputy headmistress was not as easy to persuade as in years past. She had even thwarted some of his direct orders, in a rebellion he had never seen before. Yes, she still acted with certain deference and totally within the attributions of her position, but Albus could not help feeling some insubordination, perhaps even betrayal, on her part.

But McGonagall was not his biggest concern. Severus had left the castle without even saying farewell, and until that moment he had not contacted him once! Had that poor tormented soul fallen again into despair and sought after his former master, falling in the path of Darkness? That was an alarming possibility! With a servant as qualified as Severus, Voldemort could quickly regain a physical body and spread terror across the Island in no time at all! The government was far from being prepared for such a threat! He wanted the confrontation, yes, since it was a necessity that eventually Voldemort was defeated once and for all, but if Tom Riddle acted too fast there could be a quick seizure of power that could cause many unnecessary casualties and put his plans in jeopardy. He needs to put Tom in a stalemate, so Albus could adjust the conditions of the final defeat of Voldemort.

Albus was very unhappy with his behaviour during the year. It was a strange feeling, and rather unpleasant, to feel 'out of the game', so to speak. Knowing that important facts happened without any warning, without any control of what happened from his part, and he could only react after the event surprised him. This could not go on like this. He still had some trumps, such as full knowledge of the Prophecy, his research into the horcruxes created by Tom, the terrible fate awaiting Harry for being one of the receptacles of a soul fragment of Voldemort. Tom's own survival after that fateful Halloween of 1981 was still an important secret, at least for the vast majority of people.

Maybe it was time to start hunting those horcruxes. Who knows the destruction of some more would weaken Tom to the point of making his return to power more time consuming? It was an interesting possibility, but difficult to confirm theoretically, and putting the hunt into practice might risk alerting Voldemort that his most precious secret was not so secret.

The Prophecy was a weapon to be used with care. He would need to think of a complete plan, in every detail. It might well be his only chance to get some control over the young Harry. It could give Dumbledore two chances to get that control. One directly with the boy and his godfather. Albus could reveal the Prophecy to them and hope that common sense prevailed and they saw the need to obey Albus' advice so that the best result could be obtained, even at the expense of young Harry's life. Or, failing this alternative, he could reveal the Prophecy at a Wizengamot session, and put a decree into ballot that gave him guardian power over the boy to be able to prepare him for his destiny.

As for hunting the Horcruxes, Albus decided to do an initial check in three places that he thought might be harbouring one: the Orphanage where Tom had been left at birth, the Riddle mansion, and the residence of his maternal family Gaunt. As soon as the school year was officially closed, he would pay a visit to those three places.

-o0o-

Although the previous day's mission was kept secret by all participants (except for Potter's group of allies), it was inevitable that two of the deaths would surface quickly. And it happened the next morning while the Hogwarts students were having breakfast.

With the arrival of the morning mail, a student of Slytherin received correspondence from Gringotts offering condolences for the death of his father and his godfather and marking the date for reading of their Last Wills. As this student was too emotional and too untempered, it was not long before the news of the deaths of Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape was known to all present.

-o0o-

Finally the school year was over, and Dumbledore was able to begin his investigations. In the Orphanage he found nothing, not even the building that had housed the Orphanage. In its place now stood a modern apartment building. In the old hut of the Gaunts the story was quite different. Albus found signs of ancient and powerful magical wards deactivated recently, and inside the hut near the hearth there was still a disgusting concentration of black magic that might well be the sign of a Horcrux standing there for several years. These discoveries troubled him greatly.

The Riddle mansion also had many signs of recent use, by many people, but only very subtle traces of the presence of a Horcrux. Either that Horcrux had been removed from there long ago, or it had not stayed there for an extended period. He was about to leave when an idea occurred to him: to check the nearby cemetery. Dumbledore knew that many macabre rituals such as those needed to give Tom a new body could involve the remains of his father or grandparents buried there.

After using all the detection spells he knew, and analysing the (few) physical clues he encountered, Dumbledore sat down in one of the tombs and summed up his findings: 1) there was a horcrux in the Gaunt house recently withdrawn; 2) Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape were in the Riddle mansion, with several other people; 3) the tomb of Voldemort's father had recently been violated; 4) there were signs of a recent fire near that tomb; 5) Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape died a few days ago.

In the old magician's head a certainty formed; a certainty that made him very apprehensive: Voldemort had achieved his resurrection. For this he had consumed one of his horcruxes, the bones of his father, and the lives of two of his followers. Why two? One seemed enough. Had Voldemort murdered Lucius as punishment for losing the diary and then used poor Severus for his resurrection? Yes, it seemed most likely.

Then Voldemort had returned and sacrificed two of his most esteemed servants, but Albus had detected a large number of wizards and witches in the graveyard. Too tenuous and indefinite to analyse individually, but at least a hundred people should have been present for that macabre ceremony. Voldemort had not only returned, but already had at his command a considerable force! The British magical government was in danger of impending downfall at the hands of the greatest maniac in modern times!

-o0o-

"If you try to sell me like a submissive slut for the pleasure of this disgusting little brat I'll kill him as soon as I see him again!"

"Daphne, behave yourself!" shouted Graham Greengrass to his daughter. "With Lucius' death it will be a matter of days before Draco is emancipated and takes the place of head of the family! We have to act quickly or we will miss this great opportunity! He, Nott and now Potter are the best wedding options for the next ten years!"

"Sell me to Potter, then! At least Potter will treat me decently!"

"Potter is not pure blood, as you well know! And he's already committed to your sister! It would be indecent for you to share the same bed as her!"

"Well, the bed of Malfoy or Nott I will not share! One of us will be dead or far away when that has to happen!"

"ENOUGH! Go to your room and do not leave until you are called or re-judged. And you're forbidden to use owl or the elves to communicate with anyone, young lady! You will learn your place even if by force! We'll talk soon."

-o0o-

"Daph?" called a timid and almost inaudible voice.

Daphne went to the door of her bedroom, opened it, and saw her sister's tearful face. Looking over her head, she confirmed that no one was around and said to her, "It's enough for me. You come with me?"

"Ten minutes?"

Daphne nodded, and Astoria hurried off to her room to pack her luggage. Daphne did the same as she contacted Harry telepathically asking for asylum for two people.

In the end they took almost forty minutes, but with the open portal they were able to carry pretty much the contents of the two rooms. As Daphne levitated everything that was around her through the portal, Astoria took the opportunity to collect some more things as a form of 'anticipated inheritance': she did not have access to the best part of the library, but took what she could of the rest, as well as two crowded jewellery boxes that her mother almost never wear and therefore would not miss immediately. She also took the picture of her maternal grandmother, after explaining the situation to her and asking if she would like to go with her granddaughters. Her grandmother had died only three years ago, and she had been a constant and much more affectionate presence in the girls' lives than her father and mother. Tori actually thought she had spent more of her life with her grandmother than with her mother.

-o0o-

Harry had welcomed the girls in the newly rebuilt and modernized Potter mansion, but he had left with Sirius shortly after signing rooms for the two to stay. The sisters instructed Dobby and Winky about how they wanted their rooms to be remodelled, and went into the foyer to await the return of their host, curious as to what might have been so urgent to justify that exit in a hurry when both girls were so shaken.

They did not have to wait long. Soon they were back, smiling a lot. Harry opened his arms and then hugged a Greengrass in each.

"Where did you go? We needed you!" Daphne asked as her sister preferred to ask, "What made you two so happy?"

"We went to Gringotts," Harry replied, leading the two sisters to a couch and helping them sit before sitting between them. "With Draco being emancipated and assuming the position of head of the Malfoy family, Sirius had talked to me about emancipating myself and taking over the leadership of the Potters in order to maintain a balance. With your arrival we resolve to anticipate the process so that I can offer you some security."

"The contract!" exclaimed Astoria, "You will activate the clause 'Et addidit securitatem sponsae'!"

"Yes!" replied Harry. "But do you remember the exact text as it is in our contract? Sirius and I wrote it, with the support of our lawyer, so that Daphne could be included as well. For security reasons, I can not only require your custody in dangerous situations, but also any minor relative of yours. "

"But, Harry, what security reasons are you going to plead?" asked Daphne, "My father selling me as a piece of art at auction is not exactly a crime or a major security reason for the current laws."

"We need to plan," Harry replied, "Sirius got the idea of using Dumbledore, but we're not sure yet."

"Dumbledore, what about him?" Astoria asked. Harry looked at Sirius, letting his godfather respond.

"It seems that Dumbledore has been doing some investigations on his own in Little Hangleton, and has come to the conclusion that Voldemort resurfaced in a new body and is ready to attack with dozens of wizards at his command."

"Dumbledore would never attack my parents!" Astoria commented.

"But we can make a simulated attack on the Greengrass mansion, pretending to be the work of the Death Eaters. The danger against you would be attested by the attack and confirmed by Dumbledore, who would run the risk of striking against Fudge, who will not want to believe Voldemort's return," commented Sirius.

"It would have to be quick, before Dad had time to contact Nott or Malfoy," Daphne said apprehensively.

"And what would be the excuse of the Death Eaters to attack my father?" Astoria asked. "They were not attacked the first time Voldemort showed up, were they, Daphne?"

"No, but it was a narrowly escape," replied Daphne. "Daddy supports purist ideals, but he has never directly supported Voldemort, though he has been asked to collaborate at least financially on several occasions."

"Okay, we can use that as an excuse," Sirius commented. "We attack, we destroy the protections, but we do not invade. Instead, we send a message that if a certain amount is not deposited in a certain account until a certain date, we will return to complete the service. As soon as we get out of there we send a message to Albus and his fried chicken club. They arrive in time to see the damage and will be able to testify that a tragedy didn't happen only because that was not the intention at that moment."

"What account will we be using for the money?" asked Daphne.

"A totally new one," Sirius replied indignantly. "We'll open a new one for you two. Early inheritance, how about?"

"Astoria has already taken some 'anticipated inheritance,' but the more the better," agreed Daphne smirking. "Shall we use that runic scheme your mother invented to short-circuit passive magical protections from the inside?" she asked Harry.

"Do you know anything better?" the boy replied in defiance.

-o0o-

Two days later a meeting with all the key members of the group took place in the Potter mansion.

"First issue on today's agenda, the attack on the Greengrass mansion," Harry began as soon as they were all seated around the immense dining room table. "Daphne, please."

"For those who were not aware, my dear father decided to auction me at the highest price, and the two main competitors were Theodore Nott, who became head of his house last August, and Draco Malfoy, who recently became head of his house. There were others interested, like an octogenarian Baron from Hungary, but my father counted on the interest of these two above any others. To improve the bargain, there would be no waiting clause in the contract, the marriage could occur at any time after the contract is signed, at the discretion of the groom. Dad thought these two would like to immediately start producing heirs, for safety, or pure adolescent horny, and thought he'd get a bigger sum of it."

"Would not your father even want you to finish your OWLs?" Susan asked uneasily.

"And lose the chance to earn more?" Astoria replied with obvious contempt.

"So the attack on the Greengrass mansion ... was it you?" asked Hermione.

"Yes," replied Daphne. "Tori and I fled the same day. So that our father could not compel us to return, we needed protection. There is a clause in Harry's contract with Astoria that allows him to put under protection of Potter's house his fiancée and her underage relatives if they were in danger."

"So you just created a simulated danger, just to activate that clause?" Amelia asked, rather irritably. "Do you know how much work this attack has created to me?"

Daphne stared at Madame Bones. Was she really saying she'd rather see Daphne in one of those horrible marriages just to avoid some work? It was then that the serious director of the DMLE burst into laughter. "Oh, the astonishment and horror in your expression ..." commented Amelia, making everyone but Daphne laugh with her. "Just explain one thing to me. How did you get the protections to fall so quickly and completely? The ones I have in my residence are similar; if there is any problem with them I need to know."

Still a little bothered by the prank she was victim, Daphne replied, "No need to worry. That was only possible because Tori and I acted from within the protections. It would not have been possible from the outside."

"Good! I'm great relieved, "Amelia commented before asking, "On your side are all the issues resolved?"

"Yes," confirmed Daphne. "Dad got so scared of the attack that made the deposit requested, accepted our new status as protégées of House Potter, hired Gringotts to redo the protections in the mansion and flew out with Mom. They will probably only come back when they were sure there is no danger anymore. But what about the repercussions in the government, Madame Bones?"

"If it had not been for Dumbledore it would probably have been buried as an 'accident', some kind of overload on the mansion's protections," commented Amelia. "But you warned him of the attack, and he put it all in gigantic proportions. He arrived at the site moments after you left, apparently, and was able to record the remnants of the fall of the wards. Assuming that it was destroyed from outside, he calculated that it should have been the work of a force between 350 and 400 wizards acting together, and the Unspeakables of the Department of Mysteries confirmed his calculation. However, no one seems to believe in Albus' theory that Voldemort has returned. Fudge even started a campaign on the Daily Prophet saying that Albus is too old and getting senile. But the main point is that during the peak of Death Eaters' activity, their numbers were estimated at between 200 and 250. The news of the attack has not yet reached the press, but is already known to all Ministry officials and members of the Wizengamot. The consensus is that there is a new Dark Lord out there with twice the strength Voldemort has ever had. If it was panic you wanted to create, you did a great job."

"A great opportunity to ask for more money and revitalize your department, isn't it, Madame Bones?" Harry commented wryly. "But I don't think we should worry about the possibility of panic unless a new psychopath really comes up to take advantage of the situation. Otherwise, we'll be in a good position: Dumbledore busy with an already dead and extinct Tom Riddle; the people and government attentive and vigilant, but not in real danger; your department with possibilities to grow and we with time to see more important issues. Any success with those two points we raised?"

"I could not found anything about your idea of one or more 'hidden magical societies', hiding from the government on our soil," Amelia said calmly, preparing the bomb: "But as to Dumbledore's Greater Good, which you thought could favour Muggles against us, we have some surprising results."

"Is Dumbledore really thinking about helping the Muggles against us?" Morag asked in amazement.

"Worse! I think he already did everything he needed for them," commented Amelia. "To understand better, let's go back to the great feat of Albus: his victory against his lover Grindelwald. This was the longest, most generalized and deadly of wars, both for wizards and for muggles. Grindelwald was controlling Hitler and his top aides. It was inevitable that some knowledge of the magical world would come to the Muggles no matter how much we wizards endeavoured to avoid. But the worst occurred after the war ended.

"Dumbledore was the hero who had finished the carnage; was quickly elected as head of the International Confederation and his opinion had enormous weight. Many Ministers of Magic and representatives to the International Confederation of Wizards were elected by his endorsement and support. And Albus took advantage of this to propose and approve two pieces of international legislation that may well be the beginning of our defeat for the Muggles. First, it was declared the total non-intervention of the wizards in Muggle governments. Wizards around the world were forbidden from exerting any influence or monitoring on the non-magical governments of their countries, under the pretext of avoiding a new war in the manner of the recently completed. Second, an exception to this rule has been created. Magical governments should maintain strictly regulated contact with the Muggle governments: magical ministers should introduce themselves to their Muggle counterparts whenever one or another takes office, and inform the Muggle counterpart whenever any event in the magical world causes or may come to have some effect on the Muggle world."

"Fifty years!" Hermione complained loudly. "For fifty years all non-magical governments know of the existence of the wizarding world and could study and plan and prepare for any eventuality without the magical government could even fathom what they have been doing!"

"You can be sure that every non-magical government has at least one secret department studying ways to deal with the 'magical threat'," commented Harry.

"And they're having help, you bet," Hermione said, surprising the group. She then explained, "The way magical societies tend to belittle muggleborns like me, you can be sure that some are returning to the Muggle world, where they are co-opted by their governments to aid in these secret departments! With seven years of delay in their normal education, the offer of a job at a military facility as a low-ranking officer as lieutenant or captain and the corresponding salary would be too tempting to be refused."

"That's what I thought," Amelia commented. "At least we have the magic on our side to hide, or we could have already been defeated."

"Hide? Wait a minute ..." Hermione said worriedly. After thinking for a while the girl explained an important detail: "No, I do not think we can hide so well, Madame Bones. Fidelius or Notice-Me-Not spells are psychological. They act upon people's minds, preventing them from understanding what they see. They will have no effect on the satellite cameras..."

Hermione had to stop to explain to most what were artificial satellites and how cameras installed in them were able to take accurate pictures of regions below them, even being so high in the sky to the point of being almost invisible. She also explained how these pictures would not be affected by the spells. A person handling a camera would be affected to the point of not wanting or not being able to photograph the protected area, but satellites would take photos automatically, there was not a mind to be affected. And the pictures taken would not carry the effect of the spells: anyone could look at them and see everything they contained.

"That's bad, really bad!" said Alastor. "Diagon Alley, St. Mungo's Hospital, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts... even the mansions of the old families. The Muggles may know about the country's top magical places!"

"The island?" asked Daphne worried.

Harry could only shrug. He had not seen in detail the protections on the island, but he had no reason to believe there was anything significantly different in use there.

"For security, it is best to assume Muggles know their location," warned Alastor, "Constant vigilance!"

"Fifty years!" returned Hermione to the point. "How it was possible for no one to have perceived this danger for so long!"

"Not many people know about this legislation," Amelia explained. "And most of the people who know are high-ranking government officials, that is, purebloods. This means that they are accustomed to seeing Muggles only as a nuisance, never as a serious threat."

"What shall we do?" Astoria asked, always practical.

"We should not rush," suggested Susan. "Let's look for some information and take some time to think of suggestions. We can meet in a few days to establish a plan of action."

-o0o-

 **A/N:** I've always been intrigued by JK's emphasis on obliviating any Muggle who sees magic and forbidding children to use magic outside of Hogwarts while Fudge runs to the British Prime Minister to warn of Sirius' escape or of importing dragons for a Tournament. It was one of the paradoxes of the story that asked to be used. I have never encountered a story that used this contact between the two Ministers to get the Muggles into readiness to at least watch over the magical world, and maybe to prepare for a possible confrontation. If you know any stories like this, please send me a PM or review stating which one.


	15. 15 The Muggles and Magic, part 1

**Chapter 15 - The Muggles and Magic, Part 1**

Dumbledore was trying to reorganize the Order of the Phoenix to oppose the imminent attacks that Voldemort would surely soon chain. However, the low recruiting rate was troubling the old wizard. It was no surprise to receive refusals from Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, although the fact did not fail to disappoint him. Amelia Bones had received an invitation more for courtesy than hope, and she had also refused. However, the denials of Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Filius Flitwick, and Minerva McGonagall had deeply disappointed the old wizard.

"I'm sorry, Albus, but my first duty is to Hogwarts," his deputy headmistress had explained. "With Umbridge interfering here in the school and the Minister and the Daily Prophet against you, it is my duty to distance myself as much as possible from you so that I can be in a position to defend the students if they can get you out of school."

Yes, it made sense, but it had been a hard blow to the old man's already weakened heart. The Order he had assembled was made up of loyal people, worthy of his full confidence, but they were few and old, and totally unprepared for combat. If the future of the magic world depended on the opposition of that group to a fully recovered Tom Riddle and his hundreds of followers, the prospect was gloomy. Tom would soon dominate the British magic society and launch it into a new war. But what would be his next goal? Would he try to control the magical societies of the continent, or would he try to bring the British Muggle world to his will? Dumbledore feared that neither of them would be in a position to oppose Voldemort. The Muggles needed more time or would not be able to eliminate the danger of being enslaved by the magical world.

-o0o-

"All sitting? All right, let's start then," said Madame Bones, starting the meeting at Potter Mansion. "As you know, our goal today is to outline a plan of action for dealing with non-magicals. Remember: a conflict is the last of the options; we must be prepared, yes, but we must give priority to all possibilities of agreement first. And before we begin any direct contact, it will be wise to gather as much information as we can about three crucial points: what they know about us, how they expect to deal with us, and what degree of danger they pose to us. That way, we should give priority to how to get the information we need."

"Before we start discussing ideas about new actions, I think we need to let everyone know what we've been doing and the results we've achieved," said Harry.

"What do you mean, Potter?" Alastor complained. "Had not we agreed not to get close to the Muggles until we established a plan?"

"And we're not getting close, Alastor," Harry replied, trying to appease the auror. "Sirius, start with the Refuge, please."

"It seems I have found my vocation, after all: magical construction," said Sirius. He and Remus had participated in the reconstruction of the Potter mansion, where they were now reunited, and of the old Black mansion in Grimmauld Place. "We bought a one-story house in the suburbs of Cardiff. One hundred and fifty square meters of construction on a plot with twice that area. It is in the name of a foreign company that we created, and rented to a physiotherapy clinic. The important thing is that in the centre of the house we hide an area of 2x2 meters completely surrounded by walls, where it is only possible to enter by apparition or portkey. On the floor there is a single hole. Placing a magic wand in it and activating 'Lumos', a part of the floor will open giving way to the underground," concluded Sirius with a wicked smile that caught Alastor's attention.

"What's so special about your cave, Black?"

"First let me explain one important fact about the house," Remus asked before proceeding. "At the house and on the ground there is no sign of magic that can be recorded. The mechanism that opens the floor revealing the entrance to the underground is entirely Muggle. It uses a photoelectric cell, a simple device capable of detecting the presence of light, which then activates a hidden motor that opens the panel to the ground."

"As you know, or should have known, residues of apparition fall in less than five minutes. Portkey can last a little longer, maybe up to half an hour in some cases," explained Sirius, resuming the description of his new creation. "That means the chances of being discovered using this location by any means of spell detection are tiny."

"And this basement, what does it contain?" Madame Bones asked curiously.

"Three meters below ground we created a 'cave' with the same geometry of the house, and two stories high, with a meter and a half of reinforced concrete as a ceiling to protect us from any penetration bombs that the Muggles could try to use against us. This space was then magically expanded at the ideal ratio of 7: 1 and protected with everything we could think of in terms of magic protections."

"Do you have what, then? Fourteen stories over a thousand square feet each, is that it?" Asked Alastor, gaping.

"Exactly," Sirius replied. "If the situation with the non-magicals gets tense, the whole group and a few more guests will have a place to hide for a long time. Our friend Lisa here is arranging the necessary items. Soon, we will have a safe and comfortable place for at least 200 people to live for at least a year without having to go out to get anything. In two weeks everything will be ready and we will start distributing special portkeys for everyone."

"What's so special about these portkeys, besides destiny?" asked Alastor.

"They will be customized for each one of us, and they can be activated by verbal command or automatically if the person is stunned or injured," Sirius replied.

"Well thought out," said Alastor before turning a frightening look on Harry. "Any more surprises for us, brat?"

The boy grimaced at the auror, to make it clear that he did not like being called a brat, before turning to Hermione and raising a questioning eyebrow. The girl immediately began to describe her research.

"Do you remember that I mentioned at our previous meeting that it would be easy for the non-magical government to get support from first-generation wizards and witches unhappy with the wizarding world? Well, I started to check this point. First, I persuaded Professor McGonagall to send me by owl an account of the names of all Hogwarts students from the non-magical world in the last thirty years. Since then, with the help of a few other girls, I have been raising the whereabouts of those students who have already finished their magical studies."

"And have you been lucky?"asked Madame Bones.

"With men it has been easier, since they do not change surnames when marrying, like women. We found about 80% of men and about a third of the women so far."

"And are you planning to get in touch with them?" Alastor asked.

"Not now. Harry convinced me that it would be best to first investigate them before contacting them."

"Good suggestion. That's what I think is best too. Follow them for a while; see if they show any connection with some muggle government body," Alastor commented.

"If they are assisting the non-magical government they must have been instructed not to reveal anything," commented Madame Bones.

"It's not just the government we have to worry about," Harry commented, "The girls also found evidence from nongovernmental organizations that may be aware of the existence of the magical world."

Sally-Anne put on the table a non-magical magazine, one of those publications that seek to exploit the fascination of non-magicals with the occult, the supernatural, and the 'mysteries of life'. She then opened the magazine on a marked page, and showed the adults a half-page ad offering free trials for children with the possibility of having 'unusual and special gifts'.

"Look at this part here, about possible clues that the child may have displayed indicating this special talent. It is almost a faithful copy of the speech with which Professor McGonagall started the conversation with my parents when she came home to offer a place in Hogwarts for me," explained Sally-Anne, before looking for another marked page. "And this one," she said pointing to a smaller ad, "seems to be an attempt to find alumni already trained at Hogwarts who have returned to the non-magical world, offering great pay for individuals who have 'proven magical ability.' Unfortunately, we cannot be sure without investigating better."

"For Merlin's balls, Amelia!" commented Alastor in astonishment. "All this happening and we didn't even suspect! Black, put me on top of that list for a portkey. I want to start investigating this as soon as possible, but I want a security guarantee beforehand!"

"You did a great job," said Amelia, addressing the group as a whole. "I'm going to start researching the information you've raised today, and we'll be in constant contact from now on. I want to be immediately notified of every new discovery you make, but I want you to avoid contacting any of these organizations directly. Until we have more information we must assume the worst, and only agents trained in infiltration will be used to check the situation in loco. Do you understand?"

-o0o-

"Thank you, Elphias," Dumbledore told the last member of the Order of the Phoenix to present his report. "As you can see, we are in a very difficult situation. The position of our Minister seems to be reflected in each of the high-levels employees of our government. We have not yet been able to persuade anyone else of the imminent danger Voldemort presents to our society. Not even our dear Amelia gave in to my attempts to convince her. Right now, we're lucky Voldemort has not yet started a wave of attacks, but that's a relative fate. He's probably taking advantage of the government's inaction to strengthen and devise some high-impact action."

"And you think the target will be the Department of Mysteries, Albus?" asked Daedalus Diggle. "Is that why we're watching the place?"

"Yes, I think this will be his first target," Dumbledore confirmed. "The fact that Voldemort did not make other attacks seems to confirm this assumption. He is in search of important information kept in the Department of Mysteries to ensure the success of his cause."

"Can we not get this information out of there?" asked Arthur Weasley. "We are so few, and keeping guard over the place has cost so much of our time..."

"I understand your concern, Arthur," replied the old headmaster of Hogwarts, "The point is that if we take the information out of there, then we'll be totally in the dark about what Voldemort will do next. On the other hand, by keeping this information where it is already reasonably protected and by adding our collaboration to its security, we not only gain time and keep Voldemort idle on other fronts, but we also gain the chance that he is forced to appear personally in the Ministry, which would be irrefutable proof of his return that would force the government to recognize danger and take steps to prevent the rise of our common enemy."

"And what about Potter, we continue the search?" asked Hestia Jones.

"Young Harry's safety is central to our plans," Dumbledore explained again, a little irritated by the continuing questioning he received on this topic. "With his Boy-Who-Lived fame, Harry is a bastion of hope around which we can gather our society when it realizes the danger it faces. But for him to succeed in this mission, it is imperative that he be prepared for his future. I honestly do not understand the reason for his, and his godfather, Sirius Black, antagonism to me. They refuse to answer my many letters and my continuous requests for us to talk. The only way I see to explain their stubbornness is that someone acting in bad faith managed to persuade the two to act in that way, spreading lies about me in the same way that the Daily Prophet has been doing. And you, Molly, have you had any success?"

"No, my letters have not been answered, nor have Ronald's, when I can make that lazy boy write. Nothing after that 'I'm fine, thank you, do not worry'."

The meeting ended shortly afterward, the members of the Order withdrawing and leaving a pensive Dumbledore alone in his office. Finally, the old wizard decided to make one more attempt. He took a parchment from one of the drawers of his desk and went to the magnificent bird that rested comfortably in a corner of his office.

"Fawkes, I do not like having to ask you this, but we need young Harry under our tutelage. The lives of many depend on it!"

The phoenix only made a sad note and turned its back to the old wizard, perplexing him with its obstinacy in not taking the portkey to the boy.

-o0o-

"Are you sure, Amelia?" Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, asked again. "Dumbledore is spreading fear in our peaceful population! There must be some law against it!"

"I'm sorry, Minister, but Dumbledore has been careful," replied Madame Bones. "While you don't! I would have been much luckier suing the Daily Prophet for defamation than suing Dumbledore for some forged accusation."

"Well, if you cannot help us, then leave us!" Cornelius snorted, annoyed at the reprimand he had received for the articles he had been encouraging the magic tabloid to divulge.

As soon as Amelia left the room, Dolores Umbridge, the other participant of the meeting, took the opportunity to make her request: "Minister, I am sure that with a little more power and autonomy ..."

"All right!" replied the angry Minister. "You will have the power and autonomy you want, but bring me results, not problems! If you succeed, you may be the new headmistress of Hogwarts. If you fail, and somehow compromise my position, be ready to take the fall alone! Now, leave me alone! I have much to do!"

Dolores left, not liking the tone of that last sentence of the Minister, but still content with what she had been able to obtain. And if Cornelius thought he could turn her into a scapegoat for any bad situation that would occur, he would have a great surprise.

-o0o-

In a new meeting at the Potter mansion, the adults had some disturbing news to share.

"Last week we arrested two wizards who specialize in stealing London's rich citizens, and passed all their fourteen muggle companions to the local police with evidence of their crimes," Alastor, the first to report, began. "This week I picked up another wizard who had initially worked with them but decided to start his own business by attacking in York, Leeds and Manchester."

"Impressive! The guy is blessed with a rare and important gift like magic and all he does is turn into a common thief?" said Hermione exasperated.

"Remus and I have been checking out the Muggleborns who have left the wizarding world," Sirius went on. "We worked in partnership with two groups of aurors given by Amelia, led by Robbards and Shacklebolt. So far we have confirmed that at least sixteen are in some way involved with non-magical government bodies, the majority owned or financed by the military. We are studying plans on how to find out how much they already know and what they are doing with this knowledge."

"Tonks and I investigated the two sites they announced looking for magical children. Tonks did not like to spend as much time as a preteen again," Amelia began her tale by playing with the young metamorphmagus, whose hair immediately changed from shock pink to red. "But she did a good job. The biggest of these places is maintained by the government, we do not know yet exactly which organ. The second is held by a scientist who, we discovered, managed to escape being obliviated after witnessing magic and has been devoting part of his time and resources to investigating the subject. We find that he has been studying two magical children, one of them for more than a year."

"Damn, then information about us is much more widespread than I imagined," Alastor complained.

"The situation is much worse," Sally-Anne confirmed. "We've concluded a new survey, this time geared to each city individually, rather than on national level, like the first. We surveyed the 200 largest cities in Britain, populations close to or above 100,000 in both magazines and electronic channels. We find evidence of magic knowledge in more than 80% of them. In twenty-two we detect action by some form of society or institute actively seeking for people with 'special powers'."

"I used the digital network to check out the collection of non-magic libraries," commented Hermione. "Did you know that 'A History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot is contained in the collection of sixteen of them?"

"Merlin's brass balls! This situation gets more complicated every day!" protested Alastor. "Instead of caring only about the Muggle government, we now have to watch every unexplained assault, every library, every small group in every city ... Where are we going to stop?"

"At this level of dissemination we simply will not have the resources to keep the secret... What secret? There is no more secret to keep ..." began to reflect Madame Bones, visibly impacted by those latest revelations. "Our first priority has to be to create more efficient methods of hiding from non-magicals. Without it there will be no future for us."

"It would have to be something insulated at first, or underground," Daphne suggested. "The truth is that most of us who were born in the wizarding world simply could not act as normal people without a long apprenticeship."

"It's true," Susan continued, explaining to her aunt, "We've been making frequent trips to the normal world. We have gone to cinemas, museums, amusement parks, musical shows, restaurants, shopping malls ... Every new place we visit forces the Muggleborns between us to give us impromptu lessons about aspects of their culture that we did not even suspect existed."

"People of the normal world do not isolate themselves as much as the magical people," said Sally-Anne, "Just see how big our cities are and how close we are to each other's homes. If a magical family buys a house in a normal neighbourhood, they will soon have to interact with their neighbours, at least those on the same block. And if you are never seen leaving home for shopping and sightseeing or to work, soon they will be suspecting you. It just is not normal."

-o0o-

Luna woke up that night with a strange feeling she could not define but that led her to get up and out into the garden of the mansion. It was a beautiful summer night, with the Moon lighting well and ensuring good visibility. Under these conditions it was not long before she reached her destination.

Harry was sitting on one of the benches in the arbour, elbows resting on his knees and his face resting on his hands, lost in thought. Luna called for him, trying not to scare him. With the power and reflexes he had, it was rather a concern for her own physical integrity rather than courtesy to him.

The boy, however, gave no sign of hearing, and Luna then approached him slowly. Only when she was within two paces of him did Harry finally realize the presence of his friend. Opening a smile, he moved a little to the side, making room for Luna to sit next to him.

Luna had other ideas. She lay on the bench resting her head on the boy's lap, looking at him, who soon began to caress the blonde's long hair, as he always did when they were together, to the pleasure of both. Luckily Harry was in the mood to speak. Luna did not even have to motivate him.

"I'm worried, Luna. On the one hand, I think we're safe. With the help of magic I think we are able to hide and escape from any means of detection that the normals have invented. The point is I do not think we should hide. We do not have to be a threat to each other. I think we could live in peace, even if the normal world knew about our existence. We have a power that most out there does not have, but so do other humans. There are those who can run a hundred yards in less than ten seconds. Others have become billionaires, or command great nations, or are capable of one or another physical or intellectual achievement that most cannot: jugglers, scientists, surgeons, great athletes ... We could be just another group of humans with a special quality, like so many others."

"It would be a definitive solution for the survival of both groups," Luna commented softly. "While hiding would only perpetuate the problem, and it would get more and more difficult, with more and more normal people finding out about our existence."

"Exact! Their government already knows about us, and is the only group strong enough to face us. Small groups would not know how to go through our protective spells, as long as no wizard or witch helps them, either directly or by submitting to their researches."

"We would then need a more effective means of finding and guiding the Muggleborns so that they do not fall into the hands of these groups."

"I think this can be done easily. Hermione commented to me that Hogwarts has a book that records all the magical humans in the realm. Just that they wait until the child is close to the age of starting studies at Hogwarts to contact the family. If we acted immediately, we would have a great advantage over anyone who was hunting for magical beings depending on responses to ads."

"Then we should start by opening a more efficient communication channel with the muggle government, and throwing away the International Statute of Secrecy in Magic."

"Things that only a strong and well-intentioned Minister of Magic will be able to do."

"Amelia Bones for Minister? When do we start the campaign?"

"She's going to hate us, but it's the only viable option we have. When will the next elections be?"

"Why wait? I think we got Fudge out of the job if we put together some more evidence of his mismanagement. We have already raised some 'skeletons in the closet,' as Alastor says."

"I'll bet that with Dumbledore waving his 'Voldemort is back' banner that crazy woman dressed in pink will have even greater powers at Hogwarts this year. If we provoke her properly, she can end up making slips that we can use against Fudge."

"It's a dangerous game, Harry. We will need to plan carefully. If we go too far in the provocations, it can cause serious damage to members of the group."

"Oh, but we have our trumps. The Weasley twins and the Carrow twins for fanciful ideas, and Hermione and Daphne to mould those ideas into really workable plans. Besides all the rest of us helping too. We're not dead weights in this group, you know?"

Her mission fulfilled, and with a plan of action to lead the group in the next steps, Luna gave up her quest, and proceeded to take advantage of the situation. She threw her legs around the boy's waist, sitting on his lap, and began a long, passionate kiss to distract him from work for some time.

-o0o-

Harry was right about Madame Bones not liking the idea of being the next Minister for Magic, but the arguments put forward by the group and the strong pressure of Susan won in the end.

Alastor Moody also did not like his mission but, like Amelia, he accepted after much complaint. He would return to teaching Defence at Hogwarts for another year with a double mission. First, try to co-opt Professor McGonagall to the group, thereby ensuring access to the new students' log book; second, assist and protect the group in their attempt to lead Umbridge to commit some serious misdemeanour that could be used against the Minister. In his spare time he would still try to keep an eye on Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix to make sure the old wizard did not suspect the group's real intentions.

"This week we did an experiment," Alastor said as he finished grunting as he discovered about his missions at Hogwarts. "For four of the Muggleborns that we know to be working for the government, we put a spell on the Daily Prophet edition that they received on Wednesday. Nothing serious, just a tracking spell. The idea was to check if the presence of the spells would cause any reaction."

"By your expression I can see that the experiment did not go very well," commented Tracy.

"One of them spent the day with the spell without noticing it," Moody explained, "but the others did not take long to be discovered. Shortly after the other three entered their workplaces, the tracking spells ceased to function. The problem was that with two of them, alarms were activated and caused the biggest mess in the two government departments. And one of them was a military base! I just hope they put the blame on the paper, and don't suspect that it's anything specific against Muggleborns who work for the muggle government."

"You're not going to try this again, are you?" Sirius asked worriedly. "We have to avoid calling the government's attention to our actions."

"No, we will not try any new spells on these people until we know more about them," Alastor confirmed. "For now, we'll just watch them from a distance. This eye of mine has its purpose. I got some important information."

"Then do not be shy, Alastor, and share them with us!" demanded Madame Bones. "You can be sure that I also have a lot to report."

"I was close to the military base where this Muggleborn, Bertrand Keynes, seems to be working. The main building seems to have some kind of magic detector installed. As soon as Keynes passed the threshold, the alarms went off, and metal bars popped up from the ceiling and the floor surrounding the boy. He was not really scared by it. After the initial surprise, he simply dropped the carrying case and put his arms up, waiting. About fifteen seconds later, a group of six other wizards appeared at the scene and began investigating the situation. Fifteen seconds, Amelia! When were our Aurors able to respond so quickly to such an emergency? There you have it! They're better than us!"

"But ... who were these wizards who answered the alarm? More Muggleborns who left our world?" asked Madame Bones, visibly worried.

"Apparently so, but they may be Muggleborns who did not even come into our world," Alastor replied.

"Do you really think normal people are being able to find magical children before they are of Hogwarts age and recruit them for their service?" asked Amelia.

"At least not all muggleborns," replied Hermione. "We're several Muggleborns here and none of us have been approached by the government."

"If they are approaching pre-Hogwarts kids they are doing a good job at hiding this action from the wizarding world. Maybe they're just contacting their fathers, offering a schooling option and invoking 'State Secret' in relation to the magical world?" Katie suggested.

"You are assuming that the normal would be able to detect all cases of child magic. I do not think their technology and resources are enough for that yet," Remus commented.

"One more reason to try to get Minerva's support. With access to the log book it would be easy to find out how many children are not going to Hogwarts," said Madame Bones as she pondered. Making a decision, she turned to Alastor and Remus. "I want you two accompanying me to a visit to Minerva tomorrow. As soon as we finish here, I'll make a floo call to let her know that we're going to visit her. Can I count on your help?"

Remus and Alastor agreed; the first, promptly, the second, after a little reflection. Amelia thanked both of them and continued: "I have not received any response yet, but I have sent a letter to several colleagues in the profession, also heads of the law enforcement department in their countries, to probe how much each one is aware and concerned about the problem of non-magicals discovering us. When the answers arrive, we will analyse them and check if there are some with whom we can exchange information and try some joint work."

"Don't you find it premature to involve foreigners in this mess before we have more information?" asked Alastor, always suspicious.

"This problem does not only affect Great Britain, Alastor," she replied. "There's no need to do all the work on our own. In fact, it will not do any good to do something if the other countries do not cooperate. As soon as we are exposed in one place, all other countries will come looking for us in their territories and, because of the bad work our staff has done keeping us hidden, they will eventually find us."

Moody just grunted in response. The old Auror did not like the situation he was in: more children than adults in the group, Muggles counting on well-trained and more efficient auror squads than those in the wizarding world, the magical government blind to the problem, foreigners being involved, they still in the dark about how much the normal world knew about the magical one... Well, the list was evidently large, since very few things pleased that old man.

Daphne took advantage of the pause to present another discovery from her research group.

"With the help of the hints and the support that Madame Bones gave us, we did research on the scientific investigations of the normal people, to see if they were approaching to discover our world. For example, one of these sciences is called Palaeontology, and studies ancient life forms through fossilized bones and other vestiges they may have left..."

"Dragons!" Sirius exclaimed, realizing where Daphne wanted to go.

"Not only dragons, but also giants, goblins, centaurs, goblins, big feet ..." added Remus.

"Yes," agreed Daphne. "From the data we were able to gather, only here on the island one of these discoveries occurred every two or three years in the period between 1880 and 1940, requiring DLME intervention to obliviate the scientists and remove the remains found. The interesting thing is that from 1950 until today the DELM only had to intervene three times ... the three discoveries being made by amateurs, not scientists. This seems to indicate that palaeontologists are knowing how to hide their findings so that they no longer alert the DLME."

"How naive of us!" Remus exclaimed. "All this time we have been believing that our world was safe, and that Muggles, I say normals, suspected nothing, while they were accumulating knowledge about us in some way."

"The same goes for Archaeology, the science that studies ancient civilizations," continued Daphne. "Average of two magical artefacts per year being discovered before World War II fell to one every four years soon after, and less than half that after 1956."

"It's worse than I thought," Amelia concluded. "Not only do they know about our existence, but also about our actions to preserve our anonymity. Argh! I feel foolish for having believed for so long that everything was fine!"

This sudden realization that the normal ones were deceiving the magicals better than the magicals deceived them broke the mood of the adults. A pause was necessary for them to calm down before continuing.

After the break, Daphne handed out copies of the report that the research group she had run had drafted. She resumed her presentation, preferring to move on to a new topic: "With regard to other sciences, you can read what we found in this report. There are three other points I want to cover now quickly. First, the internet. It is a network that connects computers from all over the world allowing rapid exchange of information and files between any two places in the world. Anyone with a moderate income can acquire the necessary equipment and quickly learn how to use it, and research information on any subject imaginable... including the magical world. We expected to find only myths and legends, but we found some sources with reliable information, including a very detailed description of Diagon Alley and what can be found there."

"Oh, for Merlin! All this available to anyone?" asked Alastor in alarm.

Daphne simply nodded and continued, "Second, some wizards and witches are actively engaging the normal world, getting there the wealth they were not able to get in the wizarding world. They have respected the Statute in the sense that they are not revealing our world directly to the normals, but they may be raising suspicions... For example, we find this Dr Eric Carlton, former healer of Saint Mungos, currently making a fortune looking after normal people with health problems that normal science is still unable to effectively care for. People who seek him think of undergoing surgery under general anaesthesia. In fact he injects them directly into the vein with a sleep potion and submits them to magic healing without them knowing what really happened. Another, who introduces herself as Dr Margaret Cartwright, becomes a clinical psychologist. In fact, she is a former Hogwarts student who specializes in curing addictions and mental disorders of normal people through compulsion spells periodically reinforced or fixed on everyday objects of her patients with runes. The report presents all fourteen similar cases we have found so far.

"Third, and most troubling, we find three 'religious' communities created and controlled by wizards who pose as envoys of some deity, using magic to prove their powers by creating 'miracles'. With this they achieve the unconditional faith of numerous followers who start to do whatever they want. At least one of them uses a fidelity potion that he makes his believers drink weekly during a ceremony to reinforce his power over them. We believe that there are no more such cases because the normal government intervened in those whom it encountered. These three we think are very recent. I suggest, before we act, to take some time to see how the normal government will handle these cases."

"Thieves, charlatans, false messiahs, spies, manipulators... Imagine the idea that Muggles will have of us when they know how we are treating them!" Alastor revolted.

Remus expressed his fears: "We have to think about how to get in touch with these normal government-oriented bodies for magic as soon as possible. We need to find a way to work with them, or they will see us as part of a problem that is easier to eliminate than to integrate."

"Amelia, you're in a better position for this kind of contact," Sirius commented. "What do you think we should do?"

"I do not think we should rush," commented Madame Bones. "They have known about us for half a century, and so far apparently have only acted to defend themselves from some of the interference we have caused in their world, whether through obliviators or bad elements that interfered with their autonomy and freedom. With the Voldemort problem solved, I think we have some time, not much, but some time to act calmly, without rush. We have already gathered a great deal of information, but there is still much that we do not know. I suggest that we persevere on this path, to gather more information before we act."

"Voldemort can help us!" said Harry, startling them all. "Dumbledore is advertising that he's back. While not believing, the Ministry at least recognizes that there is a group of brigands attacking magic homes, after what happened to the Greengrasses. We can take advantage of this opportunity to prepare more underground dwellings and distribute portkeys to them among the population, to protect those who are not part of our group!"

"I told you my future was in the field of magic constructions!" Sirius burst out laughing. "I do not well finish one and my godson already gets me some more to build!"

"It's an idea to think about," Moody elaborated. "It requires a lot of investment on our part, but it guarantees the survival of most of our magical population, should the worst happen."

-o0o-

"Colonel Sharp, sit down, please. I hope you're bringing good news. I will soon have to position the Prime Minister on the recent events," General MacFarley received his special operations leader.

"Nothing serious has happened, General, at least for now. Only that apparently a group of magical people realized that some members of their population were having a greater contact with our world than recommended and decided to inquire and, in some cases, interfere."

"Are they behind the magical guys we recruit?"

"It seems they are investigating all sorts of unauthorized contact between magical and normal people, but so far have only acted against elements that led to criminal activity."

"And the alarms on our bases? Were they not the consequences of hostile activity on their part?"

"Negative, sir. They were caused by innocuous spells placed in a magical periodical that most of our magical collaborators used to read. But the curious thing here is that other copies of the publication did not have the same spells applied, which raises the possibility that they were purposely placed on our staff to check the efficiency of our vigilance."

"And you think we should not worry? If they are becoming active and threatening to interfere with our operations..."

"No, no, General. So far we have no intelligence confirming their desire to interfere with our activities. By the way, as far as we know this group is not acting officially. Our informants at the Ministry of Magic assure us that the Minister continues to focus exclusively on internal affairs of the magical world and has no interest in us."

The General ran a hand through his bald head with some irritation and the Colonel realized that he was not managing to get the correct picture of the situation, and then resolved to change tactics.

"Let me summarize what we have so far, General. I think that will shed some light on the situation," said the Colonel, and, receiving consent from his superior, went on to describe the situation.

"All we have of concrete facts so far is as follows: a group of magical people dismantled two criminal groups two weeks ago that used magical people to do perfect thefts, using their teleportation ability. The magical elements were arrested by this group; we know that they were judged by the magical government and are now in their hellish prison, while evidence was left for our police to take care of the non-magical elements. After that, we had three of our collaborators, from three different agencies, coming to work with a publication containing a spell that serves as a position tracker. Two ended up firing anti-spell alarms while the third was detected in the routine inspection of entry and promptly deactivated without fanfare. Since then security has been strengthened in all agencies and offices working with information on the magical world, but nothing else has been found. Our assumption is that their Police Department, having discovered and disrupted the two criminal nuclei, decided to conduct a check-up of the magical personnel living among us to ensure that other cases were not occurring."

"And that dangerous criminal who escaped from prison a couple of years ago, got him recaptured?"

"Oh, not exactly, General. In fact, it appears that he had been improperly arrested, without trial, and in the end proved innocent of the charges. He is currently at liberty..."

"Are you telling me these magical people left one of them trapped with soul-sucking demons for twelve years unjustly? Without at least a trial? That does not speak very well about their competence, Colonel."

"That was a mistake from the previous director of their Magical Law Department, sir. The current head of the Department, Amelia Susan Bones, is much more efficient, as far as we can tell. She was the defendant's main advocate, that Sirius Black guy, and we suspect she is also primarily responsible for the recent events."

The General was thoughtful for a while, scratching his chin as his gaze strayed into the distance. Colonel Sharp waited patiently. MacFarley was a person known for his instinct in arriving at right conclusions with a minimum of data. After about two minutes he returned to focus on Sharp.

"I want to establish a direct channel of communication with this lady Bones. Use one of these three mages that was affected by their trackers; select what you consider the most suitable for the mission. He should ask for and get a personal interview with Bones, showing curiosity and some irritation with the case as an excuse. The idea is to know what she's planning. Instruct the selected lad about our investigations of those two magicals passing by messiahs and see if she is willing to help us. A kind of joint operation of magicals and normals, as a first step in an approach towards a more assiduous collaboration in the future. Let's throw a bait at them and see what we catch."


	16. 16 The Muggles and Magic, part 2

**CHAPTER 16 – The muggles and magic, part 2**

"HARRY POTTER, COME HERE NOW!" sounded the amplified voice of Madame Bones through the boy's residence. She had just come out of the fireplace and was visibly agitated.

At the edge of the pool, young Harry immediately separated from Susan, raising his hands to his head: "Your aunt has discovered! We're fried!"

"Harry, you're not sure of anything! Calm down, get dressed and go see her. I'll be right behind you. It may be another motive that brought her here," replied the girl, annoyed at the sudden interruption of her moment of pleasure, the boy's unjustified fear, and the subtle way her aunt had announced her arrival.

"Madame Bones! Did something happen? How can I help you?" said Harry as soon as he reached the entry hall.

Amelia was surprised by the arrival of Potter. The boy, always so confident in the presence of adults, was shy and cautious, and had stopped by the door, still at considerable distance, as if ready to escape. That's when her niece came in, still finishing dressing. The two with wet hair, dishevelled and incomplete clothes, looks of apprehension and guilt ... the situation became clear. Keeping her face close, she decided to play with both of them: "You can start by making sure my niece will not get pregnant until she has a ring on her left hand, boy!"

The teenagers' face of astonishment was too much for the witch, who burst into laughter at the inconvenient situation of the two. Susan was immediately red with anger and embarrassment, but Amelia gave no chance for her to explode.

"Come on, sit down both. Dumbledore finally decided to act, and released the prophecy during the Wizengamot meeting. We need to define a plan of action."

Soon other people began to arrive, mostly other teenagers who were also enjoying summer at the Potter mansion. Sirius and Remus were the last, warned by a patronus issued by Amelia.

"Did he have the courage to reveal the whole prophecy?" asked Harry, opening the discussion.

"No. Just the piece he claims Voldemort already knows. And, of course, he immediately used the situation to ask for your guard to 'prepare you for your fate'."

"But there has not been a vote yet, has it?" Susan asked.

"Not yet," Amelia explained. "Luckily Fudge acted to our benefit, wanting to put Potter on guardianship of the Ministry, a 'state security issue', as he put it. With that, we were able to create enough excitement to postpone any decision to a new meeting."

"Have you set the date for this meeting?" Luna asked as she wrote quickly on a notepad.

"Next Monday. We have five days, what are we going to do?" asked Amelia.

"How about letting go of the whole prophecy with Astoria's interpretation? And proving that Voldemort is really dead? This way people will easily believe that Dumbledore is really the Dark Lord of the prophecy! We can even say that we are already arranging to vanquish Dark Lord Dumbledore!" said Sirius, half-serious, half-joking.

"I like the idea!" said Astoria to the astonishment of the adults. And several other young people soon endorsed the idea, including Harry himself.

"You are a bunch of rebels without a cause!" Alastor protested. "You're just trying to create a mess! Don't you see the risk that this thoughtless action can cause?"

"Yes, we see. But we are also seeing what can come of good," Daphne explained. "No one in their right mind is going to vote for Dumbledore being Harry's guardian after we destroy his image so completely. We can prove that Voldemort is definitely dead, and this will put that old gaga against the wall, totally unarmed. And we can also take advantage of Fudge and try to replace him with Amelia, well ahead of our schedule."

"Argh! You're all crazy!" Alastor protested again, before shrugging, "I must be crazy, too, to think this mad plan might work!"

-o0o-

"Luna! Pudding is not a healthy breakfast!" Harry complained as he entered the kitchen and found his friend devouring a large slice of the candy.

"But, Harry, today is different. This pudding is a prize for the completion of two important and difficult articles. After all, fixing up bad things to say about Dumbledore and Fudge is soooooo hard!"

It was impossible not to laugh at the cute and charming way the blonde expressed herself. Luna, in turn, took advantage of the effect caused to the boy to quickly end the pudding and kill the issue before Harry could resume scolding.

Knowing he'd been fooled, but leaving the subject aside, Harry preferred to ask, "Have you got enough on Fudge?"

"Oh yeah. It was enough to follow rule number 1 of the espionage and reportage: follow the money! The wealth of our dear minister is three or four times greater than all the money he has received honestly in his life! That simple fact is enough to suspect passive corruption, administrative impropriety, sale of influence, and a few more things."

"So, do you think we have enough to get him out of there and replace him with Madame Bones?"

"With you on the first page saying you prefer to leave the magical world to submit to the control of these two lunatics we already had enough. The rest are just arguments to justify the decision you had already sealed."

"But, Luna, that does not make sense!"

"Oh, Harry, your naiveté is so cute! But you need to learn that most people are not very good with logical reasoning. They make decisions based on their emotions, and only then, if they need to, try to find some arguments to justify what they have already chosen."

-o0o-

At last Luna's prediction proved valid, as always. After an extra edition of The Quibbler followed by an exclusive interview with The Daily Prophet with Harry confirming his belief in Astoria's interpretation of Dumbledore as the Dark Lord, and the reinforcement of the criticisms and accusations against Fudge, as well as Amelia and the Unspeakables confirming the final defeat of Voldemort, Albus and Cornelius were in a terrible situation. Reminding everyone how Fudge wanted to force the dementor's kiss on Sirius without allowing him a trial, in addition to having enriched himself beyond the possibilities his position would allow him, Harry's interviews led the situation to a rapid outcome.

On Saturday morning an owl delivered a letter of resignation from Minister Fudge, who had apparently left the country, since no one could find him or his closest relatives for comment. As for Dumbledore, despite his protestations to the contrary, the general opinion was confused as to what to think except on one point: he was old and should retire. For a moment Umbridge was happy, thinking she would take control of Hogwarts without having to engage in a quarrel with the old wizard. To her utter displeasure, she discovered that the new administration had no place for her, neither at Hogwarts nor at the Ministry.

-o0o-

"Good morning, Colonel Sharp. I hope your smile is a harbinger of good news."

"Good morning, General. Yes, I have excellent news."

"Sit down then and let me know. Tea?"

"No, thanks General. Following your guidance, I selected Richard Boise, who is working on counterintelligence for Scotland Yard, as our contact with Mrs Bones. The results were immediate. Not only she did help us to disrupt the two cases of wizards passing as messiahs, but also a third of whom we were not yet aware, and we captured another robber wizard in the Glasgow region."

"Great! So we've opened a channel for direct communication and cooperation with their police department; is that it?"

"Even better, General. In an unpredictable move, Minister Fudge, who we knew to be extremely corrupt and isolationist, was forced to resign and Mrs Bones is now the new Minister for Magic, and as part of her job she is to contact the Prime Minister in the near future. The prospects for broad and on-going cooperation are excellent if we can minimize some of their fears."

"What fears would these be, Colonel? Nothing serious, I hope."

"Well, they're aware that various wizards and witches have left the wizarding world and now they work for us. There is some fear about how much we know about them and their powers and whether we have hostile intentions ..."

"Understandable, but out of the question. The first nation to rid itself of its magical elements would be exposed to the action of foreign wizards and witches, with little chance of neutralizing them. If they are willing to cooperate with us in maintaining order and law, and accept the leadership of the British crown and her Majesty the Queen, I see no reason to worry."

"Yes, indeed, Agent Boise was able to calm them down in that regard. But they are also concerned with the discovery of their magical world by the general population. It seems that because of a lack of resources and adequate training of the magical personnel in charge to keep their world secret, and a better knowledge of our recent technological advances, several groups of civilians have acquired knowledge of the existence of Magic, and they fear the rapid expansion of this knowledge, especially with recent advances in the internet and camera monitoring technology."

"Are they determined to keep the secret at any cost, Colonel?"

"No, General. They are confused and insecure. There seems to be a debate on certain parts of the magical world about the convenience, and even the possibility, of keeping them hidden longer. And that creates insecurity about the possibility of a new witch hunt aided by a technology they do not know and fear."

"This is a subject to be discussed calmly and thoughtfully. The final decision will have to be theirs, but we can cooperate with them, monitoring the action of these civil groups, clarifying them about available technology, and even, perhaps, providing some support if they want to reveal themselves to the rest of the people."

"Do you really think it's possible they can integrate into our society peacefully, General? The population tends to fear the unknown and the different."

"I think so, Colonel. It will all depend on how they are presented to the general public. What is important is that we now have a channel of regular communication with a magical government that seems favourable to us, or at least willing to try cooperation. If our government implies that it has always known the existence of this magical world and has always been in control, I see no major problems ahead."

"An important fact that Agent Boise raised is that it seems we are at the forefront of this movement, General. Except for some small remote communities where magical and normal have always coexisted openly, nowhere is there now the degree of cooperation we have here between the two worlds."

"So it is our duty to do all we can to preserve this advantage, but not to risk errors of precipitation. Colonel, I'm going to talk to the Prime Minister today, he'll have to find a way to accommodate me on his agenda. I hope to meet this lady Bones personally by the end of this week and articulate with her the next steps of our incipient collaboration. In the meantime, prepare a way for us to gather all the information we are learning about the magical world and the performance of its members in our world. We must be ready to do our part in this exchange of information, and seek a growing collaboration between these two worlds. But your agent should not reveal much of it spontaneously. We are on a trading scheme at the moment, if they want something from us, we should get something from them in compensation. Do you understand, Colonel?"

"Yes sir. You can count on me, General."

-o0o-

Harry was admiring Gabrielle Delacour's handiwork comfortably seated in a reclining chair in the mansion of his French little friend's family, sipping on currant juice and delighted at how charming the girl could be without even trying, with that face of concentration and tip of the tongue appearing at the corner of her mouth.

"I'm finished, Harry!" she said happily, and took out her wand to activate the runes she had so carefully engraved on the leather bracelet of the boy's wristwatch. Soon the light brown leather of the bracelet acquired a brilliant golden hue, like the body of the watch, looking like pure gold.

"Awesome, Gabi!" commented Harry, really impressed by his little friend's work. "You certainly are already at least on par with the fourth year students at Runes! Awesome how fast you learn!"

Happy with the compliment, the girl came with the clock at where Harry was and gently placed it on his friend's wrist, receiving a hug and a kiss on the cheek as a reward for his efforts. For her, no reward was worth as much as that: the satisfaction of her idol with her efforts.

"Really fantastic, my little one!" commented Jean-Pierre, also impressed by his daughter's progress, entering the room to sit opposite Harry.

Seeing her father and mother walk in and hearing her sister coming downstairs with the rest of the guests (Luna and the Greengrass sisters), little Gabrielle sat on Harry's lap before the adults asked her to leave, as they always did when they wanted to discuss something serious. Didn't they realize that she was no longer so little and that she liked to take part in serious matters as much as they did? Apparently not, by the frequency with which she had to be absent from these meetings. But now she was with Harry, and she hoped her hero would fight for her right to participate.

Apolline saw the expression and actions of his daughter and understood what she planned much better than her husband, who was already preparing to ask his daughter to withdraw. Placing a hand over his and giving him a negative nod when she received his attention, she prevented the father from losing a few more points with his daughter. Jean-Pierre was a great father and husband, but sometimes he was a bit too protective. Apolline knew what would be discussed and saw no problems in her daughter participating in the conversation.

"Madame Bones told you about questioning some people from other countries about the degree of knowledge of the normals about the magical world. Karel and I also did our research," Jean-Pierre began to report. "We have a very confused situation. We have found, for example, that some small countries have never really adhered to the Statute of Secrecy. Not only do the people of these countries know about our existence but they have also benefited from our powers to solve many of their problems. In return, the wizards and witches of these countries rely on a different treatment as a type of nobility, and even in several of them are in control of the government, which is unique to magicals and normals.

"At the opposite extreme we have countries where the separation was total, and the magical personnel vehemently refuse any attempt at a meeting. This is the case in China, where the magical population completely isolated itself in the cities of Shangri-La, Xuanpu, Penglai and Yaochi; in addition to several other countries, including Russia, Belarus, Albania, Macedonia, Greece and Switzerland, here in Europe.

"With the magical nations spread more or less equally between these two extremes, any attempt to unite everyone in a joint position, whatever it be, will be facing centuries of negotiations before a consensus is reached."

"But we do not have centuries to look for this diplomatic solution," commented Daphne. "I think we do not even have a decade."

"The problem is that any magical government that takes the initiative to try to reveal the existence of magic unilaterally will suffer strong reprisals, and not only economic and political reprisals, from the International Confederation of Wizards, but also the risk of military intervention by the Front for the Preservation of the Statute of Secrecy."

"Front for the Preservation of the Statute of Secrecy? This is new, isn't it?" asked Luna, curious about this new organization.

"Yes, and partly our fault," Jean-Pierre explained. "It seems that our inquiries, and also our greater cooperation with the normal government, have led some countries in favour of total isolationism to devise a quick response. The movement began in the Arabian Peninsula, with Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen and Kuwait, but spread rapidly, and now has Russia and China as main participants. They are striving to overturn the law that Dumbledore created about the need to inform normal governments of magical activities that may influence the non-magical world. I do not think they can bring it down, but they already have enough strength to prevent punishment for countries that do not comply, as they recently did with the case of Sierra Leone and a nundu who escaped from a reserve."

The group took a little break to think for a while about the news. It was Harry who broke the silence by thinking of a loophole for action: "If the cost is too high for a government, then the initiative must come from an individual."

"Harry, the cost will be even greater for a single individual," Jean-Pierre said sharply worried. "You will make thousands of enemies, and they will put a prize for your head."

"We do not have much time. As the normals are progressing in computing, imaging technology, satellites and telecommunications, soon some group of them will be revealing our existence and this will be much worse than if we take the initiative," said Astoria, reviewing the conclusions that the group had arrived in the last weeks. "If we take the initiative, we will naturally tone the case, reinforcing that the normal government knew about us, that we were collaborating with them and now we will expand this collaboration to all. If we let one of these groups take the initiative, we do not know or have control over how we will be presented. It may be the beginning of a new witch-hunt, with nowadays much more numerous, organized and technologically advanced hunters. We have to avoid the chances of a carnage."

"Harry, you'll have to stay a long time, years or even decades, hidden if you take that plan forward," Apolline reasoned.

"I have the resources," Harry confirmed. "Let's do it, before it's too late. The longer we wait, the greater the risk of problems, both from the normal people as from the magicals opposing the opening."

-o0o-

"We have six more countries in, General. We now have a total of one hundred and fifty-two confirmed for simultaneous broadcasting."

"This will undoubtedly be an unprecedented event, Colonel. Only if we can get a live interview with an E.T. or the Creator himself will we be able to supplant this one!"

-o0o-

At 10 o'clock in the morning, Greenwich Mean Time, Sunday, September 3, 1995, the most anticipated broadcast of the century began. For two weeks TV networks around the world announced a special schedule for that day. Four hundred and forty-six broadcasters and transmitters from one hundred and seventy-seven countries were participating in the largest simultaneous broadcast of all time. The expected audience was in the four billion people figure.

The broadcast began exhibiting a beautiful grass field in the hinterland of England. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the figure of a dark-haired boy with green eyes appears, saying, "Hi, I'm Harry Potter, and I'm a wizard."

As the young man appeared, the camera recoils a little so that the audience can see a little of the sky above the boy, from where a witch on a broom descends in an elegant spiral until she lands next to Harry and also presents herself: "Hello, I'm Astoria Greengrass, and I'm a witch."

-o0o-

For two hours the program continued, passing a complete view of the magical world, divided into four segments of half an hour each. The first segment addressed the most common magic skills; the second showed a little of the history of the magical world, with emphasis on the separation of the two populations since the late sixteenth century when religious persecution began. The third part spoke about other magical creatures, and the reality behind many traditional myths and legends. Finally, the last part addressed the fact that magical people were constantly born of non-magical parents, and taught people how to verify the presence of magic in children and what to do if a child was positively magical, in addition to including reports of government leaders confirming the knowledge about the magical world and how it was hoped for a greater collaboration between the two worlds from then on.

In general, the reception of the novelty was positive, despite some isolated, and quickly controlled, cases of attempts of revolt or even lynching against possible members of this so secretive magical society. There was a severe disappointment when it became clear that magic also had its limitations, and that cancer and various genetic defects were part of those limitations, at least for now.

The isolationist magical governments were caught totally by surprise by the sudden revelation at world-wide level, due mainly to the very fact of them isolating so much of the events of the normal world. Harry's head, as well as that of Astoria and several other wizards and witches who appeared on the show, were really put on prize, but except for a few mercenaries who were arrested and extradited while attempting to illegally enter the UK, they could live normal lives, although always a little apprehensive and more careful. Between Potter's mansion and Island and the homes of several friends and co-workers, there was enough room for everyone to live safely, avoiding public places.

Mixed commissions of magicals and normals were created to study forms of cooperation between the two worlds, especially in those areas where the situation was most critical: pollution, health, energy, transport, natural resources, food and preservation of the planet. Some results were immediate. In health, with a little training any student formed by one of the leading magical schools could quickly solve simple cases of fractures, injuries, poisonings, burns and the like, freeing normal doctors for the most serious cases. In transportation, airplanes and ships were now turned into portkeys, propelled by magic instead of oil. Herbologists and potion masters were enriching as they helped the world produce bigger and better food crops.

But it was in the big projects that most of the group that had gathered around Harry Potter devoted their best efforts. From the total elimination of garbage and pollution, through the complete recycling of all waste, to the substitution of all oil-burning by clean alternatives, to the construction of a spacecraft capable of reaching other stars, everything was valid and pursued. And what pleased most the group was to see that people were happier. Not that the problems had ended, far from it, but that inner fire that gives each of us the strength to move on and overcome the obstacles, so depleted that it was in the face of so many problems that seemed insoluble, had once again shone and pushed everybody forward, for a better future. The world was full again of Hope, and that was the big difference that really mattered.

 **THE END**

 _ **A / N:**_ _I hope you enjoyed it. I ask for a great favour that will only take a minute: leave your opinion, even if negative, so that I can know better how to write new stories that are of interest to you._


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